


Adventures in Symbiote-Sitting

by Captain_Danvers16



Series: Avengers Adventures [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Conflict Resolution, Crossover, Friendship, Gen, LGBT Heroes, Mild Language, Mind Control, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Plot, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Teenagers, alternate Far From Home events, references to previous work, symbiote possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 71,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24531085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Danvers16/pseuds/Captain_Danvers16
Summary: Peter Parker (Spider-Man) returns home from Europe, but his troubles aren't over yet. Suspicious activity leads him to find a symbiote named Venom along with a shocking truth: Quentin Beck isn't dead.Promising to help his new ally find Eddie, Peter and Venom team up for a long mission to find a kidnapped Eddie. Soon, they discover more sinister plans at play: a symbiote invasion. Once the threat turns multi-dimensional, Peter is aided by the Spider-people from all different dimensions and together, they prove that they are never truly alone.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor (mentioned), Eddie Brock & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Miles Morales & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark (mentioned), Peter Parker & Shuri, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Venom Symbiote, Peter Parker & Wade Wilson, Quentin Beck & Peter Parker, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange
Series: Avengers Adventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527566
Comments: 11
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

_After the events of Thanos, the Avengers return to their normal, more or less, lives. Peter Parker aka Spider-Man leaves on a trip to Europe with his classmates over the summer until the trip is hijacked by none other than Nick Fury and Maria Hill, along with Quentin Beck aka Mysterio with a new mission for Peter._

_To help Peter while he was off-world on an Avengers assignment, Tony Stark aka Iron Man left Peter with an A.I. under the name of E.D.I.T.H. in the form of a pair of glasses. Quentin gains Peter’s trust to the point where Peter willing gives him E.D.I.T.H. out of feeling unworthy of the task of essential filling Iron-Man’s rocket boots. However, Quentin turns against Peter and threatens to use the weapons controlled by E.D.I.T.H. against him and his friends. Happy Hogan comes to Peter’s rescue and helps him in creating his own suit to use to fight Mysterio._

_In the epic conclusion, Mysterio is presumed dead and Peter, Happy, and his friends return to the U.S. Upon returning, Peter puts E.D.I.T.H. away vowing to use it again once he could trust himself and other people again. Nick Fury and Maria Hill are revealed to be skrulls posing for the real Nick Fury and Maria Hill on an off-world mission, something that Peter was unaware of. After a week of school, Peter decides to talk to Doctor Strange at his sanctum about what happened and settle what had made him most apprehensive upon returning:_

_Was Quentin Beck_ really _dead?_

* * *

“I see you had quite the time in Europe?”

“You could say that.”

Strange smiled at Peter, “Well, it’s good to see you made it back in one piece. That or Tony would have straight up sued the human race.”

“Like in the Bee Movie?”

“… What?”

“Nevermind, it’s really good. It’s a cringy good, as in it’s terrible, but you should really watch it sometime!” Peter beamed.

Strange hesitated, “… We’ll see about that. Besides, it seems you have thirty minutes before your school starts and that you came to discuss more pressing issues than your ‘Bee Movie’.”

“Right! Ok…” Peter took a deep breath, “Quentin Beck, er, Mysterio, right? He’s not… I don’t think he’s…”

“From what I’ve heard from you, Beck is a very strange man. He is a master of illusions, making it difficult to tell if his death was real or simply staged. As for now, I believe we can assume he is dead, however, we can’t let it be a shock to us if he isn’t.” Strange replied.

“Alright, yeah, but… it’s not just that. He said something… about a multiverse?” Peter pressed on.

“No matter what he claimed, he was from this dimension and universe. However, if you’re asking that it exists…” He knowingly grinned, “That’s part of my job every day. Protecting us from it.”

Peter nodded slowly. That made sense but, it was a lot to take in. The past almost two… three? years were a lot to take in. Thanos had, well, killed them all and then as soon as they were brought back, it seemed like there was hardly time to breathe before being sucked into the next adventure. And Mysterio… he had made him question everything and a whole X-Files trust-no-one. It had left him and his head a mess.

“Are you ok?” He must have been staring off too long because Doctor Strange looked concerned.

“What? Yeah! No, I’m, I’m great.” He replied maybe a little too quickly.

Strange studied him, “Peter, no one said this job was easy, I’m not just talking physically, but on the mind as well. Especially for a sixteen-year-old. If you ever need help, or need to talk-,”

“I’m ok! Really!” Peter interjected, “I’ve, uh, probably gotta go. My history teacher is gonna kill me if I’m late again.”

He didn’t look convinced, but sighed and nodded, “Alright. I’ll see you next mission.”

Peter waved before pulling on his mask, bursting out of the sanctum’s doors, and swinging onto the streets. He felt sorry for lying to Doctor Strange like that, but he didn’t like people to think that there was something wrong with him. Besides, he didn’t feel like he could really explain it. He knew that they of all people would understand the superhero vs normal life thing, but it still didn’t feel like it would make sense if he told them.

However, May would be proud he talked to Strange today. He knew she was worried about him too. And Ned. And MJ. Should they be worried? He only agreed to go today because something about Quentin and his death kept nagging him.

No, he was completely fine. Everything was ok. He was a normal high school student despite the double superhero life. Or at least he tried to be. He was so lost in thought he swung right into a drone.

He cursed as he fell and shot out a web onto a tall office building and swung upwards, just grazing the pavement. “That was close.” He muttered to himself.

“That is correct.” Karen, the A.I. in his suit replied, “Another fall like that could be fatal.”

“Thanks Karen. You always know just what to say.” He teased.

As he landed in the alley behind his school to change, Karen spoke again.

“Peter, Mr. Stark has completed a new update for your suit. Would you like to see him after your school today to install it?”

He smiled, “Yeah, actually, that would be great.”

He stuffed his mask inside his backpack and hurried to class excitedly as he ran to catch up with Ned and MJ. Even Flash’s usual comments didn’t bother him today. This was just what he needed.

* * *

_ Later in the day _

“Parker!”

Peter shyly smiled and waved back at Bucky as he walked into the Avengers Compound, “H-hey.”

He caught an orange that flew at the back of his head and turned to see it was Sam who through it.

“Aw man. I was testing your Peter Tingle.”

Peter flushed bright red causing the two to laugh, “Who told you?!”

“Happy.”

He sighed, “Of course.”

“Hey! No bullying my kid! We have an appointment.” Tony approached them with a wide smirk on his face. He was wearing a black suit and his signature glasses.

“Ah yes, your unpaid intern awaits.” Sam teased him.

“I’m serious, go annoy literally anybody else in the compound for the next thirty minutes.”

Tony lead Peter to his lab downstairs in the compound. An audible woah escaped Peter and his jaw dropped a little, causing Tony to smirk.

“You like it? Just a little space for me to do my thing… watch your head.”

“This is amazing!” He breathed.

“You got the suit?”

“Oh! Yeah.” Peter pulled the original Stark Spider-Man suit Tony had made him back in Germany out of his backpack and gave it to Tony.

He seemed to weigh it in his hands for a minute, “Alright, let’s get this thing updated. How was Europe?”

“Um, it was…” Peter scratched the back of his head, “Well… eventful?”

“That bad huh? Maybe we should do an around the world Avengers field trip, you know, without high school teachers and kids and curfews and stuff.”

“Oh, uh, ok.” He couldn’t really tell if he was joking because he laughed.

“Well, that might actually just be a disaster waiting to happen.”

Peter grinned, “Yeah.”

There was silence for a minute. Peter’s suit was hooked up to the main computer and making a slow, faint beeping noise as it uploaded.

“So, Mysterio?” Tony pressed, but smiled at Peter’s confused expression, “Don’t look so surprised Kid I heard all about what you did in Europe. And I gotta say, I’m actually kind of impressed.”

Peter looked up, shocked because Tony wasn’t usually one for praise, “Really?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, I know the guy he’s definitely headstrong and dangerous but not really an Avengers level threat. But you did great, you held the fort down on your own. And you had Happy, so I knew you were going to be fine…” He trailed off, “Hey, just out of curiosity, are your aunt and Happy a thing?”

Peter shuddered a little, “Yeah, yeah. I think so.”

“Oo. Yeah. That’s ok.”

“Yeah.” Peter tugged on the ends of his sweatshirt, “Hey, Mr. Stark? When you knew him, is it possible…? Do you think Beck is really gone?”

Tony shrugged, “Again, he’s dangerous, but I think you’re good for now. We leave to settle relations with other galaxies dealing with the effects of the decimation and Earth is already in trouble again. And look, I’m sorry… I wasn’t there. That shouldn’t have been your fight. I swear, sometimes I feel like I contribute more super villains than good to this world.”

“Mr. Stark, I was ok.” He assured Tony, “I was fine.” Then he sighed, “I don’t know, but I feel like before, I had to prove myself that I was enough and then lately, I’ve had to cross my fingers and hope that I’m enough. Everything has changed since Thanos, I mean, I’ve been to actual space! I don’t think anything’s the same, and I don’t think it every will be again. And, and… why are you… Mr. Stark?”

That was when Tony legit hugged him. This had happened one other time (Peter didn’t really like to count the time he died) and both times it took Peter a minute to become aware that it was actually happening before he hugged back. Tony hardly ever hugged people.

“Mr. Stark… are you ok?”

He nodded, still smiling sadly, “Yeah, yeah…” He wiped his eyes, “I’m fine. I… It’s just… you know what? I don’t even know what I’m tripping for. You did great. Just know…” He placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder, “Even if I’m halfway across the universe, I’m here if you need me.”

Peter nodded slowly, still partially in shock and still partially feeling that Tony didn’t know how much this meant to him, “Oh… ok. Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

After the update finished uploading itself into his suit, Peter showed Tony the new web formula he had been working on.

“You know, if you want to play around with some of the chemicals I have here, you can probably increase its durability.”

Peter blinked, “Really? I can work in your lab?”

Tony shrugged, hiding a grin, “I mean, sure. I’ve been working on a Mark 51 so I can mess around with that while you do your thing.”

“That, that would be great Mr. Stark! Thank you!”

And it was. It was great to have this sort of thing where he and Tony could work together on their projects. He really looked up to Tony, so to have moments like these where amazing. Tony was right too; he wouldn’t be able to find anything at his school that could have made his webs half as strong.

“ACDC helps me focus, so I’m gonna put some of that on if it doesn’t bother you.” Tony stated, activating the Bluetooth speakers from his watch.

“That’s fine.” Peter was a little confused because he was _almost_ positive that the song he played was by Led Zeppelin, but he decided not to say anything.

This was the most Peter had felt like himself in a long time; not Spider-Man, but Peter Parker. Experimenting with his mentor; it felt like the best, most natural thing in the world to him. So much he lost track of time.

“Ah! Mr. Stark, I’m sorry, I gotta go! May’s gonna freak.”

Tony check his watch, “Oh yeah, sorry Kid, lost track of time there.”

Peter carefully put away the chemicals he had been using, “Hey, Mr. Stark… Thank you so much for this. Letting me work with you. I had a great time.”

He smiled, “Anytime Kid. We should really do this more often.”

A soft smile spread across his face, “That, that would be great.” He gave a small wave before he turned for the door, “See you Mr. Stark.”

“Hey Kid. Wait up. There’s something I gotta tell you. I think you should know.”

Peter turned back to face him, a little hesitant, “What is it?”

Tony grinned, “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.” Peter let out a sigh of relief as he continued, “Pepper and I, well… we’re expecting.”

Peter gasped excitedly, “Mr. Stark! Oh my God that’s amazing!”

“Now, you can’t go around telling people; so far only you, Rhodey, and Happy know.”

“Oh, of course!”

“So… yeah.” Tony smiled weakly.

“Mr. Stark, you’re gonna be a dad!”

He nodded, looking sickened by the thought, “Yeah, yeah I know.”

Peter tilted his head, “Is something wrong Mr. Stark?”

He rubbed his eyes, “No, it’s… It’s the ‘dad’ thing it’s...” He laughed nervously, “It’s kind of a lot to take in.”

“Mr. Stark, I think you’re gonna be the greatest dad ever! You care so much for other people, and your’s and Pepper’s kid is going to be, like, the smartest and most compassionate person in the universe! Heck, I even look up to you as a father figure!”

Both Peter and Tony froze at this. Had he really said that out loud?

“I, I mean…” He stammered, “Not in like, a weird way or anything.”

Tony gave a soft smile, “You do?”

“Well…” Peter sighed, “Yeah, I do. Guess that’s out now.”

“You know, me and my dad weren’t very close, and I guess I want that to change for when I’m a dad. Anyways, maybe it’s because you reminded me a lot of me when I was younger, or maybe because you just have that effect on people, and it’s probably also why I also call you kid… but I kind of think of you as a son.”

Peter felt himself burn up as he gasped, “Really?!”

“Close mentee! Or maybe, like, above and beyond intern. Don’t push it.” Tony replied, fighting back a smile.

He grasped onto Tony and hugged him tightly, “Wow! Mr. Stark! That means the world to me!”

“…I’m going to allow that…” He pat Peter on the back, “Just because it seems fitting. But for future reference, I’m not a hugger, so don’t run at me like that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Tony ruffled his hair as he let go, “It’s alright. But hey, one more thing: Pepper and I have decided that, well, we would like you and Rhodey to be… to be the kid’s godparents, when it arrives.”

“Woah…” Peter replied in shock, “Woah, uh, yeah. Yes! Oh my gosh!”

Tony laughed and put his hand on his shoulder, “You’re going to be such a great influence on the kid.”

Peter smiled and whispered from the whirlwind in his head, “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

He smiled back, “Alright, get out of here. You’ve got school tomorrow. Your aunt’s probably gonna kill me too at this point.”

“Ok, bye Mr. Stark!” He gave one last wave and then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

“Mr. Brock… you’re an interesting character to follow.” A figure illuminated by a faint light in between them commented.

“What do you want from me?” Eddie kept his voice as controlled as possible, even though he was incredibly anxious and confused on what the hell was happening. He and Venom had just been fighting muggers on the streets of San Francisco when something weird happened. Not the usual weird, but when they had gone in to punch one of the muggers, there was a strange light and then it was almost liked they were sucked away from the scene. He must have simply just passed out, but the next thing he knew he woke up with this strange man in… it had just occurred to him that he had no idea where they were. He could feel a slight rocking, an indicator that they were in some sort of vehicle. He was strapped down in his seat and the man sat across from him. Eddie could now see he had on an eyepatch as he leaned into the light.

“You see, S.H.E.I.L.D. keeps tabs on all possible security threats, say, an alien invasion, threats from other dimensions…” He continued.

Well, crap. The real question was how did this guy know? Screw that, who was this guy?

He forced a confused expression, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s kind of our job at S.H.E.I.L.D. If people were aware of how many times a year we faced extraterrestrial threats, or how many times aliens tried to invade, that would cause a lot of panic, don’t you think?”

Eddie nodded slowly.

“So, it’s part of our job to keep these threats under control.” The man glared at him. He wore a black trench coat as well. For only having one eye, he gave him the most intense death glare he had ever seen on a human being.

“What do you want from me?” Eddie repeated.

“I want both of you to enroll under S.H.E.I.L.D. watch and security. For your own good and ours.”

Eddie decided to play dumb, “I’m sorry… both of us?”

“Cut the B.S.” He deadpanned, “You’ve got a freaking symbiote sharing your body.”

**_…That’s not good._** Venom muttered from inside his head. **_Should we bite his head off?_**

“I’m sorry, but before _we_ agree to you guys being our nanny cops, I wouldn’t mind knowing who the hell you are or how the hell you know any of this.” Eddie shot back at the man.

“Nick Fury.” The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk, “And S.H.E.I.L.D. knows everything.”

“Right… ok, Nick-,”

“That’s Fury to you.” He cut him off.

“Ok, ok. _Fury_ , what if me and my… compadre, were to decline your fine offer?” Eddie asked with an edge of sarcasm.

“You’re either with us, or against us.” Fury replied crossly, “And you can believe me, you do not want to be against us.”

“Oh! So, you’re like, with the government? You’re a super-secret spy organization?” He laughed, “Well, you can believe me, I don’t think we’re exactly your type.”

“Please, once you’ve put up with Stark’s ego for a couple hours, your snarky attitude and alien buddy are a piece of cake.”

**_You know, I think I kind of like this guy._** Venom spoke inside his head.

“I’m sorry Mr. Fury, but me and the other one aren’t interested. We don’t really ‘work’ for anyone.” Eddie replied.

Fury shrugged, “Well that’s your problem. I also have a feeling another problem you’re about to have is how you’re getting back to San Francisco.”

“Um… what?” He asked, confused.

“San Francisco, big city in California, _where you live_.”

Eddie let out a frustrated huff, “Yeah, I know what San Francisco is! What do you mean getting back?”

Fury rolled his eyes, reached up and turned the light overhead. He then opened the sliding door behind him as the van came to a stop, and Eddie winched at the light from outside that flooded the dark van. He climbed out of the van after Fury when the restraints around him retracted back into the seats like seatbelts.

Eddie just about had a panic attack when he realized they were standing on the edge of a busy street, skyscrapers towering over them and people flooding the sunset lit streets.

Fury took satisfaction from this, “Welcome to New York. And one thing I want to make clear, don’t confuse us with the government. You don’t want the government, believe it or not, they’re much worse than us. The basics is don’t do anything stupid, and we’ll call you when we need you.”

**_Wait, hold up, you’re not actually considering this?_ **

Eddie shrugged Venom off, “Define stupid for us.”

“Stick with going after the, you know, minor bad guys. Stopping bank robberies, breaking up gang fights, you name it. No innocents. I know you guys live in a bit of grey area but seriously, only stick with taking down bad people.” Fury replied.

**_Hey! We already do that! Look at us overachievers!_ **

“Alright, hold on. What do you think?” Eddie asked Venom, Fury shooting him a confused look because he couldn’t hear Venom talking to him.

**_Hmm… I don’t trust him. So that means we should totally do this. And if it doesn’t work out, we can just kill them all._ **

True. “Ok. Just one thing, we like our privacy.”

Fury grinned, “That’s our specialty.”

“Great!” Eddie clapped his hands together and headed back to the van, “So… I guess we’ll be going then.”

“Brock.” Fury called after him as he began to walk away, “We didn’t drag you out here just to let you know we’re keeping tabs on you. We need both of you.”

“Oh…” They must have had to be really desperate.

“We’ll tell you back in the-,” Fury was cut off with a strangled shout as he was electrocuted and collapsed to the ground.

People screamed and fled as two cop cars pulled around the corner and shot at them.

“Careful! We need him alive!” One exclaimed at the others, slamming the car door behind her. They didn’t seem like they were cops.

**_Bad guys?_ **

“I’m gonna say yeah.”

Venom came up and surrounded him, ready to fight.

* * *

Peter swung through the city as if on autopilot until he heard sirens.

He sighed, “I’m late anyways. It won’t make a difference if I take just a little longer.”

Before he even reached the ground, something dark zoomed over his head and sliced his web, causing him to fall the rest of the way. He landed in a lunge in the middle of the street. It was blocked off by police cars and caution tape, however, Peter didn’t see anything. Also, what the heck just caused him to fall?

“Spider-Man!” An officer exclaimed, lowering his gun as he approached him. He had dark skin, cool eyes, and his badge read: Officer Davis.

“Officer, what’s going on?” Peter asked, then froze as a small red dot appeared on his chest, signaling a sniper was targeted on him. In fact, there was one on every officer on the street.

“Nobody move!” A familiar voice bellowed, “All we want is the alien.”

Peter couldn’t tell where it was coming from but… it was so familiar. It couldn’t be…

“What alien?!” Peter shouted, and a loud thud from behind him seemed to answer.

He turned his head to see a tall, jet black, monster looking creature. It had large white eyes and a wicked grin filled with long, sharp teeth.

**“Leave the puny humans alone.”** It growled.

“Hey! I don’t know if you know this, but humans find the term ‘puny’ very insulting!” Peter replied, mentally trying to calculate how he could get all the officers out faster than a bullet. Spoiler alert: it was impossible.

The voice again, “We’re not afraid to take all of you.”

“Time to test the stronger web fluid.” Peter muttered to himself.

Karen activated shield webs and Peter wrapped the area containing all the officers in a dome shaped cocoon. Sure enough, all the red dots disappeared. And the sounds of the snipers firing bounced off the outside of it.

“Yes!” Peter pumped his fist in the air.

Officer Davis shrugged, “I mean, thank you, but I don’t think you really thought this through.”

Peter raised his brow, “How so?”

“Well, first of all how are we gonna get out to fight the bad guys? And second of all… you kind of trapped us in here with the alien thing.”

Peter turned around and sure enough, the alien thing was right behind him, staring at him.

**“Like you puny humans, we find ‘alien thing’ very insulting. We are Venom.”**

Peter nodded slowly, “Ok… Nice to meet you Venom.”

Officer Davis looked at him like he had lost his mind.

“Oh! I know! Sewers!” Peter exclaimed, “We can use the manhole to get out!”

Officer Davis continued to look at him like he was crazy.

Peter marched over to the manhole cover, lifted it up, and jumped inside. As he walked through the sewer searching for the manhole, he mentally prepared himself for what he would find outside. That voice, it sounded exactly like… Quentin Beck. As he found the next one, he shot himself out of the manhole cover and found… nothing. No sign of any pysco-assassins with snipers anywhere.

“Hey! What is it Dora the explorer said? Right! Sniper no sniping!” Peter laughed at his own joke then shuddered, “Wait, that’s kinda dark.”

Venom burst out of the manhole behind him. “ **You talk too much. The car! Over there!”** Venom rushed and pounced on top of a cop car screeching away from the scene.

“Wait! Venom, stop! Those are cops!” Peter cried, but a guy in all black complete with a really ‘burglar’ looking beanie leaned out the passenger window with a shotgun to shot at them.

“Hey! Dude, that’s _not_ what it means when you call shotgun!” He flipped over the car and shot the guy in the face with a web and he screamed as he tried to pull it off his face.

“New web fluid. You like it?” Peter beamed before another hijacked cop car screeched down the street after them, “Aw come on!”

Peter landed on the roof of the second as Venom tore off the roof of the first.

**“GIVE! BACK! NICK! FURY!”** Venom roared.

Peter froze after he pulled off the driver door with a web, tied the driver to a lamppost, and stopped the car with a web barrier, “Wh- what did you say?”

Venom then _ate_ the driver and Peter turned away, trying not to throw up.

“What did you say?!” Peter exclaimed more weakly but also more loudly than before.

Venom turned to him slowly. “ **Who are you?”**

“How do you know Fury?!” Peter cried, “What happened to him?!”

Venom tilted his head slowly before he shrank back into a human being.

“Oh my God you’re a person.” Peter breathed, “There was a person in there.”

“I need you to listen to me very carefully… how do _you_ know Nick Fury?” He raised his brow, “And how old are you?” He wore a baggy, grey sweatshirt and had messy, brown hair. His brown eyes looked tired.

“First of all, I know Fury as, um… as a friend from work. And second of all I’m…” He paused, “I’m a man.”

The Venom guy looked unconvinced, “Yeah, Kid, look… I know what the vigilante lifestyle is like but trust me when I say stay out of this. This is dangerous, and you could get seriously hurt!”

“Alright that’s it! Listen pal, I’ve gone toe to toe with Captain America. I’ve fought the Vulture who dropped a building on me and stopped him and his underground criminal organization from stealing the Avengers’ stuff. I went to space and fought freaking Thanos, died, then came back to fight him again. I’ve fought a madman whose superpower is tricking people with illusions, and that’s how I ended up getting run over by a train! I’m way past dangerous!” Peter shouted after him.

“Great, look, I didn’t want your life story. We’ve all got it rough but in the end, we make do with it.” He said as he walked away, then glanced nervously over his shoulder, “All I know is that these guys just kidnapped someone who was supposed to be the head of some super-secret spy network, and that’s not good. These guys are crazy, so go home.”

“No you!” Peter called, holding up an Uno reverse card, a magic trick Scott aka Ant-Man had taught him, and he swung off, “Also… SUPERHEROES DON’T EAT PEOPLE!”

Peter didn’t really know where he was going. He was just looking for a sign.

“Peter Parker.”

Peter froze at the chilling voice and turned to see the person which it came from standing on the rooftop. “No…” He managed.

Quentin gave an evil, gleeful smile, “You thought you’d seen the last of me? I thought you were smarter than that Peter.”

“You’re not real!” He exclaimed, “You’re dead! You’re just an illusion!”

He rolled his eyes, “Keep telling yourself that. And I’ll go ahead and tell the world who you really are.” He took great pleasure from Peter’s horrified silence, “What? Oh right, _I_ was one of the people you trusted with your _secret identity_.” He chuckled, “That’s unfortunate.”

“Not even you would go that far.”

“Try me!” Quentin shouted. The hesitant glimmer in his eye said otherwise, “I have your secret and I have your director of S.H.E.I.L.D. By now I’m sure you realized there’s something I want from you.”

Before he could finish, Venom attacked from out of nowhere.

“Eddie Brock!” He beamed, “Welcome to the party!”

**“How. Do you. Know. Our name?!”** Venom growled while slicing at him.

He shrugged, “Not-so-secret S.H.E.I.L.D. intel apparently. Took my best hacker about twelve seconds to find it. Well boys, it’s been fun, but it looks like I’m gonna need to take in both of you.”

Beck looked confused as a web stuck to his arm and Peter’s foot to his face a few moments later. He flashed him an angry glare before his ‘Mysterio’ helmet came around over his face.

“I don’t think so fishbowl!” Peter leapt back into a flip as Mysterio blasted at him. Beck could have been using illusions, but Peter wouldn’t have known. He was closing his eyes and relying on his spider-sense again because this was the only way he knew how to really defeat him. However, according to his spider and common sense, it wasn’t an illusion that the building they were standing on was collapsing.

Peter grasped onto his web like a rope and slowly lowered himself down into the alleyway behind the demolished building. He couldn’t find Beck anywhere. Suddenly a hand clamped over his mouth. Peter struggled to break free from the grip and soon felt his body go limp. Something wasn’t right.

“Kid, forget what I said. You’ve got skills. And now you’re gonna need that. That guy isn’t leaving without at least one of us. That should buy us some time. I’m going to turn myself in. But what he doesn’t know is that you’re going to be the one with my symbiote, or you know, Venom. I need you to look out for him, ok?” Eddie explained.

No, it wasn’t ok. Peter had absolutely no idea what was happening right now.

“Stay safe and stay out of trouble. I’ll be back.” He assured before taking off.

“Wait…” Peter finally managed, but it was too late. He took a step forward after Eddie as he ran back onto the street, but stumbled to the ground, “What’s happening to me?” He muttered.

**_Eddie?_ **

Peter looked around for Venom at the sound of his voice, but Eddie was long gone.

**_Eddie’s… gone…_ **

That’s when he realized it. It was coming from inside his head. Venom was inside of him.


	3. Chapter 3

“I swear to God I’m going to kill that Tony Stark!” Aunt May exclaimed in response to Peter’s explanation on why he was so late to return home as he did the dishes.

“May, it’s really not a big deal-,”

“Not a big deal?! Peter, it’s a school night!”

Peter looked down, “I’m sorry.”

It was a moment before she sighed, “It’s ok. But I really worry about you. You know that right? I don’t want any more staying out late with Tony Stark on a school night, ok? And speaking of it being a school night you should probably be getting ready for bed.”

He finished doing the dishes and nodded, “Yeah, ok. Hey, there’s something I gotta tell you…”

**_NO!_** Venom shouted from inside his head and Peter winced, then realized Aunt May couldn’t hear it.

“Peter, is everything ok?” She asked concernedly.

**Peter smiled and nodded, “Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just gonna say goodnight.” He kissed her on the check, “Love you May, see you tomorrow.”**

**He made his way to his room, carefully shut the door,** then gave a deep shudder as if shaking off a bad dream. He blinked in confusion as he glanced around his room.

“What just happened?” He whispered, trying to piece together how he got from doing the dishes to his room.

**_I couldn’t have you tell her. She would have you see a doctor. No doctors. We need to find Eddie. I had to take over so you wouldn’t mess that up._** Venom replied crossly.

“Took over? You mean like, you _possessed_ me?! You can’t do that!”

“Peter, honey? Is everything ok?” Aunt May called from outside his room.

“Uh, yeah! Yeah! I’m alright May! There was just a squirrel outside…” Peter lied.

“Oh, ok. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

**_See?_** Venom hummed.

“No, I don’t see!” He continued in a hushed voice, “She’s my aunt! We don’t keep secrets from each other anymore.”

**_Fine, you can tell her all about it tomorrow after we free Eddie and stop the one guy and get the other guy back, deal?_ **

Peter flopped onto his bed and covered his face with his pillow, “Fine… deal.”

…

Peter woke up perched on top of the Empire State Building in his pajamas.

“Ahh!” He screamed, gripping onto the giant needle, then he remembered he could stick to things, “Am I on the Empire State Building?”

**_Yes,_** **we _are on the Empire State Building._** Venom corrected him. As if he could have forgotten he was still inside of him.

“Communist.” Peter muttered in response to his emphasis on we, “But hey, it’s really cool up here!”

**_The perfect place to find Eddie._ **

“Yeah…” Peter nodded slowly, “Yeah, Venom, what time is it?”

**_Not early enough. We tried to get out the door, but your ‘Aunt’ said to catch the bus. People got confused when we did so we put the bus back down on the road. Then we searched for Eddie because we didn’t want to ride the bus._** Venom filled him in.

“Oh my God… the bus?!” Peter leapt up, “Venom, I gotta go to school!”

**_No!_ **

“Yes! I’m not skipping for this! I’m already in enough trouble! May doesn’t want me out late anymore, people caught me being controlled by you lifting up a school bus, and now I’m standing on top of the Empire State Building! People are gonna notice something’s up!”

**_Well, how about this?_ **

Peter felt something cold and slimy surround him and looked down to find a cool hybrid between his Spider-Man suit and Venom. It was jet black suit with a white spider stretching across his chest.

**_Plus, the sooner we find Eddie… the sooner you get rid of me._ **

Peter smirked, “Now that’s the most tempting offer you’ve made so far. Alright, but just this once! Where to?”

**_I’m hungry._ **

“Hungry? For what? Are you kidding? I’m skipping school to get you food?”

**_Symbiotes require phenethylamine._ **

“Oh, you’re going to be that specific with me, huh? Well, that’s a chemical found in the neurotransmitter of the human brain so…” Peter’s mind then raced to images of last night when Venom bit someone’s head off, “Oh NO! NO, NO, NO!”

This time Peter felt Venom try to take over, but he didn’t budge.

**_You’re strong._ **

“Look, you can make me kiss my aunt on the cheek or make me miss school, but if it involves murder than I draw the line that not even an alien can pull me over.”

**_Fine… I suppose there is another alternative._ **

* * *

“No one. Has ever. Let me have. This much candy. In my. Entire. Life.” Peter beamed, throwing away the last Hershey’s wrapper in a garbage can on the street. Venom had lifted up the mask he made around his mouth, keeping his face covered, then fully covered his face again as they continued down the street.

**_I am ready for this partnership to be over. I cannot eat heads because this puny child says no, but if the puny child eats chocolate then it loses its head._** Venom sighed.

“What?! Pfft, I’m fine!” Peter waved him off as if he were high. Technically he was, but on candy, “Let’s go find Eric.”

**_Eddie._ **

“That’s what I said. Say… how long’s this gonna last you?”

**_Hmm at the rate you consumed it… probably a few years._** Venom replied sarcastically.

Peter gave a thumbs up. People were now staring concernedly as they walked by.

**_Ok I’m taking over until this effect wears off. I’m getting concerned; this has never once happened to Eddie._ **

“Mm… no.”

Peter again felt Venom try to take over, but it didn’t work.

**_Are you kidding me?! There is no murder involved!_** He exclaimed with a frustrated huff.

“Yeah, but I’ve kind of decided I don’t like you taking over me.” He began humming the Mii channel theme as he strayed from a crosswalk.

**_Come on puny child. We must find Eddie._ **

“I know. That’s where I’m going.” Peter replied cheerfully as he pulled up a manhole cover and jumped inside.

* * *

The entire sanctum disappeared around him into a white haze and Stephen Strange looked around suspiciously, “Excuse me, who are you?”

“I am Julia Carpenter. Or as I more commonly go by now a days, Madame Web.” A tall figure appeared out of thin air.

Stephen glanced around the cosmic plane, “Why have you brought me here?”

She grinned, “That’s the best part: I haven’t brought you anywhere. That’s kind of my thing. I’m an inter-dimensional psychic.” Julia had long, ginger hair and red tinted sunglasses. She wore a red trench coat and gloves. She was tall and looked as though she was in her thirties, “And I’m here to warn you.”

Stephen raised his brow as she continued, “I’m from another dimension and I have access to the Web, which allows me to see and connect to the Spider-Man or Woman of each dimension. And for the longest time, I was the only Spider-Woman aware of its existence. However, a recent event collided different dimensions of the ‘Spider-Verse’, and that has taken a toll on the entire multiverse, but I’m sure you already were aware of that. There is a great threat coming to yours, and I have reason to believe that your dimension’s version of Spider-Man is at the center of it.”

“No.” Stephen couldn’t help but be a bit taken back by this, “No, I’m sorry but you’re mistaken. I know this version of Spider-Man, and he would never be involved with collapsing the multiverse.”

“I too don’t think he would willing do such a thing, or even that he will.” Julia continued sadly, “Let me explain. I can’t reach him with my powers. Something is blocking me. He is not himself and I feel something is terribly wrong. Like some force has taken over him. I do not wish for any harm to happen to him; perhaps he can be helped, whether he admits to needing it or not.”

He nodded slowly, “If he’s in danger, we’ll help him. I’ve heard your ‘web’ briefly mentioned in our texts. You can you it to see into the future, correct?”

“Yes.” She replied, “That’s just the issue, the future is unclear for this dimension. For all of ours. It’s almost like they’re crashing into each other and becoming intertwined.”

“Definitely best we try to avoid that.” Stephen agreed, “I’ll help you.”

She looked a little more convinced, “Alright. The Spider-Verse depends on it. I’ll be in touch.”

The entire scene faded, and Stephen was left back in the sanctum, suddenly feeling stressed about what had just happened. What had happened to Peter now?

* * *

“Quentin Beck is a wanted man.” Peter explained as they continued down the sewers for what was probably thirty minutes but felt like three hours, “And if he’s here, there’s only one place he could’ve been driven: underground.”

**_Well that wore off quickly._** Venom replied, referring to Peter’s sugar high.

Peter nodded, “High metabolism.” Then he sighed, “There’s gotta be an easier way to do this… Karen!” He called, then facepalmed, “I’m an idiot.”

**_That hurts me too you know._** Venom stated after his facepalm.

Venom retracted back into him so Peter could pull his Spider-Man mask from his pocket and over his face, “Karen, scan the New York sewer system for any unusual activity.”

How could he have forgotten about Karen? She was one of Peter’s most useful (and sarcastic) assets whenever he was on a mission. It was almost like having Venom talking to him in his head made him forget about listening to Karen. That was bad… right?

“The quadrant North of you was under construction and recently blown out, however, no clearing for the action was made with the city council.” She replied.

“Perfect! Thank you!”

“Peter… I am detecting unusual neural activity…”

He quickly pulled off the mask and Venom formed as the suit around him again. His suit was linked directly to Tony and if Karen found out… it was only a matter of time before he did. “Alright, let’s go find your friend.” He assured Venom. Peter easily found the area Karen referred to; a hole in the wall opened into a long, dark, ominous tunnel, “Ok… I expect nothing less. Just as long as no spooky scary skeletons jump out at me.”

**_Um… what?_ **

“You know, you are a very sassy symbiote.” Peter jokingly scolded him.

Venom seemed satisfied with this. **_I am aware._**

Water droplets echoed as they splashed into puddles on the ground. Peter turned on his phone’s flashlight and held it out in front of him. He tried not to slip on the mildew covered floor. The walls were tinted the small shade of green as well. All the sudden, every one of Peter’s senses went on high alert. At the end of the tunnel, an ominous shape slithered around in the darkness.

“Okay…” Peter trailed off nervous, “Hey, spooky scary skeletons.”

**_Why are you actually like this?_ **

The thing abruptly stopped moving. Peter held his breath as he heard a low growl and then the thing jerked in their direction and charged at them.

“Woah!” Peter exclaimed as he leapt into a backflip over it as it tore at him.

He was finally able to get a better look at it. It looked like a symbiote, except it was bright orange and black and had tentacle-like hair.

**_It’s Scream!_** Venom exclaimed.

“Cool, you know her!” Peter shot back at him sarcastically as he slid under her and tried to pull her down with a web, “Why don’t you tell her you’re buds so she’ll stop attacking us?!”

**_I never said we were friends._ **

Peter sighed, “Figured.”

Scream sliced through the webs and Venom pulled Peter back against the wall out of her way by extending himself from the suit to the wall.

“Thanks.” Peter replied before running along the ceiling and dropping on top of her. He tried the scissor move Black Widow used, admittedly not as graceful as she did, but it did the trick. However, Scream rolled back and grabbed him by the arms and legs with strands of her hair and held him up, slowly pulling him apart. Peter winced, turning his wrist to the back wall and aiming to, hopefully, pull himself free.

**_No, I got this._ **

He sighed, letting Venom take over for a brief moment. He extended around Scream’s strands and tried to force her to let go while also pushing her back. It almost looked like a jet-black spider was sprouting from his body while he and Scream fought against each other. Peter shot two webs at Scream’s head while she was distracted and jerked her head into the ground, putting her in enough pain to release him.

“I think we should work together from now on.” Peter told Venom.

**_Agreed._ **

Peter leapt through the air as Scream attacked again and in midair, let his web stick to her and swung her into the wall before landing in a lunge on the ground.

“Ok, what do we do?”

**_There are two things symbiotes can’t stand: fire and loud noises._ **

“Now we’re talking! We just need something that’ll catch fire.” Peter swung above Scream and swiftly kicked her across the face. However, she immediately roared and grabbed him in the air, throwing him across the sewer and he groaned as his bones absorbed the impact against the wall. But that was when he saw it: a can of gasoline bobbing in the sewer water. Peter glanced at Scream then launched his web onto it and pulled it out. It was only half full.

“That’ll work.” Peter muttered, “Alright, sewer gas contains of methane and hydrogen sulfide which is extremely flammable in large quantities. So… I’m pretty sure this place is gonna blow up.” He glanced up at the manhole cover above them, “Alright Venom. I need you to be the escape plan.”

He sailed over the water and landed in front of Scream again. He dodged and stepped back as Scream swung at him and he poured the gasoline. Once Scream was on the other side of the puddle, Peter ran along the wall and leapt over her, so it was in between them. Then, he broke one of the lamps on the ceiling and Scream shrieked as a spark caused the puddle to set fire. She tried to reach him but hissed at the burn and ran off in the opposite direction. Venom then extended himself, ripped the manhole cover off, and pulled them out of it onto the street. A car served around them and Peter gasped.

“Everyone out of the way!”

Venom grew bigger around him and extended himself into a shield to protect the people standing on the sidewalk as flames erupted and stretched into the sky from the manhole.

Peter took a moment to catch his breath as everyone around him screamed.

“Thanks Venom.”

**_Saving the puny humans was your idea._ **

He smiled and shook his head. But his smile faded a little, “I’m sorry. We didn’t find anything that would lead us closer to your friend down there. And we nearly got killed.”

**_Maybe not… but we learned that there are more symbiotes on Earth. And they have hosts._ **

“Oh yeah! And that’s bad! We’ve gotta do something!”


	4. Chapter 4

MJ sprinted across the twilit street as fast as she could. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

She stumbled into an alleyway, tripped over her own shoelace, and ended up crashing into a garbage can. As she slowly picked herself up, the lid of the garbage can remained glued to her hand.

“No… no, no, no, no, no.” She muttered as she tried to fling it off her hand, “Stop sticking!” How was this happening?

It had all spiraled down after Europe. Actually, there was the whole Mysterio thing in Europe, but anyways, the break from her home might have been too much freedom for her because she found herself leaving more and more frequently now that she had come back to avoid her mom’s screaming.

Maybe she had gone too far for too long today. She ventured off into a subway station and… got bitten by a spider. That didn’t seem like such a big deal, but it was what came with that. It was like the same story Peter had told her about being bit by a spider and getting powers for him was coming true in her life. But what she also found in the subway was a familiar face… Quentin Beck and his group of ex Tony Stark tech thugs. She had found their hideout and now they needed her dead. The spider powers kicked in, and she ran as fast as she could away from them.

She had no idea if she was safe yet, or if she every would be again. What was she going to do now? Tell the police? How do you explain this to them? Would they believe her or worse, would they believe she was the bad guy? Quentin could make them believe anything.

That’s it! Maybe this was some sort of illusion! Maybe she didn’t really have spider powers, maybe it was just…

MJ clutched the sides of her head as a terrible vibration filled her skull. What was it? It was like every sense in her body was trying to get her to look out…

Just then, a semi-truck, served out of control and tore through the alley she was in. Next thing she knew she had somehow jumped on top of one of the apartment buildings.

“Woah.” She breathed and ducked away as the driver got out of the truck and looked up.

She couldn’t go to the police. That had always been Peter’s main point, keeping the identity a secret.

She had to tell Peter. That should be her next move. Not only was he her best friend and boyfriend, he also had spider powers.

That didn’t make sense either… MJ didn’t think there could possibly be two spider people.

… Could there?

* * *

“Ok so since our sewer plan went up in flames… pun very much intended thank you. I think we need to regroup and come up with a new plan, but preferable without missing anymore school.” Peter began as he typed on his laptop back in his room.

**_I don’t know much about teenage humans, but shouldn’t you prioritize better?_** Venom replied.

The keys of his laptop clattered as he searched for possible locations of Quentin and Eddie, “What do you mean? I’m fine. Totally fine.”

**_I can feel you. You know that, right? You’re anxious._ **

Peter ignored him as he continued searching, “Quentin has a thing for abandoned warehouses. I mean, most villains do. I wonder why? Anyways, he might be trying to hide in plain sight.”

He jumped a little at the sound of his phone buzzing, sighing as he saw Ned’s contact photo when he picked it up.

“Ok, no talking to me or taking over me while I’m talking to Ned. This’ll be a few minutes.” Peter instructed Venom as he answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Peter, are you ok? Where were you today?” Ned sounded nervous and it made Peter on edge.

“Uh, I was, um, sick. Bad headache. Are _you_ ok?”

A pause, “Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I just think it’s weird cause I don’t remember you missing a day of school since the second grade. And MJ wasn’t here today either.”

“She wasn’t?”

“No, oh by the way, you two are gonna have to watch out tomorrow cause Flash is spreading pretty nasty rumors about you having a hookup or something. I can’t believe anyone is actually buying it really.” Ned sighed.

“Is she ok? Have you heard from her?” Peter asked

“I thought you might have.” He replied concernedly.

Something about this didn’t feel right. Like he could feel it. Had he missed something? Had Peter not been there enough for her?

“Peter, you there?” Ned after they had gone silent for too long.

“No, I haven’t heard from her. Hey-,” Peter caught himself. He couldn’t wrap Ned up in this whole Venom thing. It was too complicated. And he could handle it on his own… couldn’t he?

“What is it?” Ned asked.

Peter sighed, “Oh, nothing.”

“Peter… are you ok?”

“What? Yes! Yes, I’m fine. I’m good.”

“You sure?” Ned didn’t sound convinced.

“Absolutely.”

“Good. Because you’re my best friend and you don’t sound sick at all.” Could he actually hear Ned smirking through the phone?

Peter opened his mouth to say something, then sighed, “Fine. Ok, just… please don’t make a big deal about it.”

“Then Peter, where were you?” The betrayal in his voice stopped Peter from trying to come up with something to tell him.

“It’s… look, it was a mission ok? But this is it! I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Ned gasped, “Wait, is this another, you know, ‘Avengers level threat’?”

“No, just Spider-Man.” He felt Venom growl at this, “Look, I gotta go.”

“Look, Peter… I’m really worried about you.”

Peter stood up, frustrated, “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m fine!” His breathing was heavy during the long silence that followed with regret, “Ned…”

“I can tell you’re upset. I’ll leave you alone. Just, you know… call if anything happens, ok?”

He sighed and nodded, “Yeah ok. I will. Thank you… I’m really sorry.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

He still held the phone up to his ear long after Ned hung up and eventually, he slumped onto his bed, gripping his pillow and burring his face in it.

“I screwed that up.” He muttered, “I just yelled at my best friend over nothing. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” There was a frustrating amount of silence from Venom the one time he would have appreciated him talking, “Oh, come on! Are you gonna say anything?! You’re stuck in my head, so you might as well talk.”

**_Adolescence is strange. And complicated. And weird._** Venom finally replied.

“…Uh, ok?”

**_I was searching through your memories._ **

Peter sighed, “Of course you were.”

**_Your feelings have influenced most of your decisions, as well as your consciousness. That is all fine, but you could always balance it out with your focus._ **

“Did you just give me advice?”

**_I tried to._ **

“Focus… ok.” He turned back to his laptop, “I think we can kill two birds with one stone here. We know there are symbiotes running loose and we know Quentin has Eddie. I think those two events are related. Remember when he said: ‘we just want the alien’? Maybe he’s got something to do with the symbiotes running around Earth.”

**_Maybe. But why?_ **

“I don’t know, but knowing him, it can’t be good.” He paused, “You said Fury was kidnapped as well, but you didn’t know by who? What if he’s got Fury too? It actually makes sense; in Europe, he was trying to get attention and maybe by taking out S.H.E.I.L.D.’s head guy and causing chaos, he could step in and become the public face of superheroes.”

**_Fury knew about us. He was on to something. If your involvement with the symbiotes theory is correct, then maybe he needed information from him._ **

“Hey! I think you’re onto something. What was the name of the company that launched the whole symbiote project again?” Peter asked.

**_… I never told you that._ **

He smirked, “You didn’t have to. This looking-into-memories thing works both ways.”

**_Then I think you know._** Venom replied bitterly.

“Yeah ok… L.I.F.E. I think we need to check out their old building.”

**_Then we’re heading back to San Francisco!_** Venom cheered happily.

“San Francisco?!” Peter groaned, “That’s so _far_!”

**_Yes, you big baby. When can we get there?_ **

“Not soon, that’s for sure. I’ve got school! I think I can make up an excuse to go there by this weekend. I’ve got some friends there who I think can help out, and don’t worry, they don’t have to know about you.” He sighed, “Until then… we’ve got time. We need more leads.”

**_Back to the sewers?_** Venom suggested.

“Mm, rather not.” He grumbled as he reached for his phone and unlocked it to a group of missed calls and unread messages, “Woah! What happened?”

All were from earlier in the day. One of the calls and three of the messages were Ned asking where he was and if he was ok. One message and one call were from May saying she was going to be late getting home (which was actually ok in this one circumstance). One was a link to a YouTube video and description Shuri sent him that he would totally watch later. One was a wrong number and then the last…

The last was from MJ and a voicemail was left. Peter hesitantly let it play.

In the recording, MJ sounded scared and out of breath, “Peter! If you get this, I… Oh my God I have no idea what to do. I think you’re the only person who can help. If you find me, bring the suit. I’m downtown. I don’t think I can explain over the phone. I’m on the run so I can’t tell you an exact location, but please try to find me!”

Without a second thought, Peter put on the Stark Spider-Man suit and jumped out the window.


	5. Chapter 5

The sky was now completely dark, and MJ perched on the fire escape of a dark apartment building to catch her breath. She had been all around New York and was pretty sure she was back in SoHo by this point. Her heart continued to beat faster as she tried to slow down her breathing to keep herself off the verge of a panic attack. Maybe she was finally safe now.

A thud above her caused her to scream and she nearly fell of the fire escape.

“MJ?” The lenses on Peter’s mask widened as he saw her.

“Peter!” She exclaimed as he slid down next to her. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back, “Oh my God.”

“MJ, you gave me a heart attack! What happened?”

“I, I don’t know! There was this thing, and it was sort of like your thing, expect… then I started getting sticky, but not like in a weird way but… well, let me just show you.” MJ stood up and took a deep breath before stepping off and walking alongside the wall. She held out her arms in a comedic way, “Woo.”

Peter nodded slowly, the eyes of his mask widened in surprise, “Okay… MJ how did this happen?”

“It’s a mess.” She replied, climbing back over the fire escape and burring her head in her hands.

He took her hand and held it in his, “It’s ok. It’s gonna be ok. We can handle this.”

A tear rolled down her face as she nodded. She immediately wiped it away, “Peter, I need your help.” MJ turned to him, “What do I do? What did you do?”

“Um… well…” Peter contemplated, “I remember being really freaked out and trying to hide it for the longest time. Then after…” He trailed off and took a deep breath, “After my uncle, um… after we lost him, I figured there was something I could do, I could help people. And…” He gave a light laugh, “I try.”

She nodded slowly, “So, is that what I should do?”

“Oh no, I think you should avoid that before you get tied in.” Peter replied seriously, then sighed, “But it’s entirely up to you. Spider-Man is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, but this life now… it’s different. Not always in the best way. Promise me you’ll think it over while you still have the chance.”

“Ok.” She promised, “Peter, whatever happens, I need you to promise me you’ll help me with this. You’re the only one I trust with this.”

“Of course!” He assured her with another hug, “No matter what happens, I promise.”

MJ smiled a little before she rolled her eyes and pat him back, “Ok, ok I know. You like hugs.”

Peter gave a light laugh before he let go. MJ held his hand in silence for a moment before he spoke again, “Your powers, they just… happened?”

She shuddered a little, “No…” Then she gasped and stood up, “I’ll explain later! Mysterio! He’s here!”

Peter stood up as well in shock, “What?”

“I found him! I found his base, hideout, whatever!”

Peter stared at her in surprise before nodding slowly, “Where?” He asked rather calmly.

“Lower Manhattan. Upper Eastside. The subway tunnel under the East river. You get to it through the closed off maintenance tunnel.”

“Ok.” He shot a web to the side of the building, but she grabbed his arm.

“I’m going with you.”

“MJ-,”

“No!” She cut him off, “I’m not letting you get in trouble because I told you where he was. I’m not doing that! You can’t go alone.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve taken him on before.” Peter assured her.

“No. I’ve made up my mind. And you need to work on accepting help.” MJ smirked.

“I know, but at least be realistic with yourself; you just got your powers, there’s no way you’re ready for a mission yet. And you said you would think about it!”

“I did. Just now. I’ll figure it out. You did. You don’t have to go alone.” She shrugged, “You also don’t have a choice because I’m going anyways.”

He contemplated for a moment, then he sighed, “Fine. Let’s see what we’re dealing with. Hang on!” He put his arm around her and she grasped for dear life as they took off, “We would like to remind all passengers to put up their tray tables; we’re experiencing a bit of turbulence.” He joked.

MJ groaned, “I’m not a fan of this part. If I become a superhero, I’m walking.”

He laughed as they swung through the city, “You’re gonna have a hard time getting around fast.”

She rolled her eyes, “Fine, I’ll take the subway.”

“MJ, you saw Quentin, right?” Peter continued more seriously.

“Yeah, he nearly killed me.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Uh… you didn’t hear that last part.”

“MJ?!” He exclaimed concernedly.

“Whatever he had in Europe, his base; he’s got it here.” MJ replied, “This is his home turf. He’s got his team and they’ve got their tech.”

“Ah yes… Parker luck at its finest.” He muttered humorously before his demeanor changed to something a little more concerned, “MJ… what exactly happened to you today?”

She sighed. She was going to have to tell him eventually, “I couldn’t take it anymore. My mom, she… I just had to get away for a while. I don’t know why I skipped school today, it just sort of happened. I didn’t want anyone to see me like that. I took the subway and I did what any normal person did and decided to check out the subway tunnels.”

“Why did you want to check out the subway tunnels?”

“Because they’re dark and cold and slimy and I like all those things in that order specifically.” MJ replied.

“…That’s fair.”

“Anyways, after that there was this weird spider and it bite me, and then everything got blurry after that. If I had to guess what being on steroids feels like, that was it. I tried to get out, but I’d somehow gotten lost in the maintenance tunnel and I eventually found his ‘evil villain lair’ or whatever. Then they saw me, and I took off.” She finished.

“…There was another spider…” Peter muttered, lost in thought.

“Yeah.”

“What if there are more? What if were not the only spider-bitten people out there?”

It was a moment before MJ responded, “I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

* * *

**_Great. Just great. Another pesky human interfering with our mission._** Venom growled sarcastically.

It took every ounce of willpower not to say anything in defense to this as Peter crept down the subway tunnel alongside MJ and tried to pretend everything was fine. Nothing was fine. In fact, everything was really, really bad. It was as if the fact that an alien was currently living inside him and MJ was being hunted down by goons had caught up with him and was beginning to take its toll. He knew Venom could feel his feelings, and the intense anxiety seemed to get him to ease off.

**_Oh, I see. You_ ** **care _about this human._**

Peter didn’t say anything. He couldn’t without MJ figuring out something was wrong and risking them being found.

MJ had pulled her wild, curly brown hair in a messy bun and a look of determination was sketched across her face. Her hands were balled into fists by her sides and he smiled, reminded of the time she wielded a mace in Europe. He couldn’t help feeling that after Europe, he had started going insane. Of course, everything changed after he became Spider-Man, but it was almost as if every single thing; his parents, his uncle, Captain America, the Vulture, Thanos, Mysterio, and now this had all caught up and grabbed hold of him. He and Venom agreed to work together, but having his influence in his head still didn’t feel right.

“Pete? You coming?” MJ asked him from up in the ventilation shaft.

Peter snapped out of the daze he was in and nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m coming.”

He crawled through the ventilation shaft behind her, making several turns before she stopped above a vent, the florescent artificial lights flooding in from the room below them.

“Ok, he should be just down this hall.” She pointed downward.

“So, we just need a plan so he won’t see us out in the open-, MJ?! What are you doing?!” Peter exclaimed as she kicked the vent and it loudly chattered against the cement ground.

“Shit, that was loud.” She glanced down nervously, “Yeah, I think they heard that. We might be screwed.”

He sighed, “It’s ok, I think we can make it work. You’re learning on the fly now.” Peter removed one of his web shooters and put it around MJ’s wrist, “This is a web shooter. Tap once to thwip and double tap to release.”

“Wait, Peter!”

Two armed guards had already made their way to the vent and it was only a matter of time before they looked up. He shot with the web shooter on his left wrist and webbed them up one at a time. In their ‘web cocoons’, he pulled them up and they stuck to the ceiling. The webbing over their mouths kept them from calling out for backup.

“…Ok.” MJ replied, “Yeah… I’m not going to be able to do that.”

“Follow me.” Peter moved along the ceiling using his tour guide voice, “And ladies and gentlemen if you look on your left, you’ll see the rare species, Mysterio Goon-agus. They are very aggressive, so move past them with caution.”

“Wasn’t the point to be quiet?” MJ asked him.

“Yeah but talking calms me down I guess.” He replied, “But yeah, we actually are going to be quiet at this part.”

They slowly lowered themselves off the ceiling before crossing the threshold to the lair and ducked behind a computer station. MJ was right; they were in the laboratory and it had a large staff. It was huge and the walls were toned grey, but there was electricity in the air. Peter’s breath was caught in his throat as he saw him.

“You’re telling me we’ve had this thing for nearly a month and a half, and you still can’t tell me where it came from?” Quentin asked the scientist nearest to him in disbelief.

“Sir, to be fair, this is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It’s adapting and evolving. All we can really pin on it for sure is that it’s extraterrestrial.” She replied.

He gave a humorless laugh and threw his arms in the air, letting them fall to his sides, “Really people?” He called out to the entire room, “Really? What’s the point of using some of the best, top notch individuals in the industry if you can’t tell me where this thing came from? I had to work with Felicia Hardy to pull this off and you know how I feel about working with her!”

Quentin had moved just enough to see the thing they were referring to. In a glass containment case, a sea green blob was moving about.

**_Peter…_** Venom buzzed inside his head, **_They have a symbiote. That one is Lasher._**

“W-what?” He whispered.

“What is that thing?” MJ muttered.

**_How do they have him? What are they doing?_ **

“So far we’ve gotten more information in torturing the suspect then from our own science department.” He continued, “He called it a symbiote.”

MJ and Peter exchanged a glance.

**_I swear to mother of God if they’re talking about Eddie, I’m murdering all these motherfu-,_ **

Peter shut his eyes as he tried to fight back to keep Venom from taking over. It was a good thing MJ couldn’t see him under the mask. But that didn’t help him rationalize with Venom on why he couldn’t lash out now.

“If the messages we’re receiving are correct, then we’re going to have an invasion of these things on Earth.” Quentin said with a sneer.

Venom stopped struggling with Peter at this and MJ let out a small, quiet gasp. Peter beamed with pride, realizing she had been recording the whole thing on her phone, but was also reminded of how much he missed Karen. He had worn a duplicate mask he carried in case of emergencies without Karen installed into it to pick up MJ, but at least if he was going to have a voice in his head arguing with him, Karen made for better company.

**_Ouch._** Venom replied at this thought.

Peter shrugged. He was too focused on Quentin’s plan to let an alien army raid Earth. He earned a few concerned glances from around the room and he laughed at them, “What? Too soon? Come on, this is good! A little alien invasion, keep things spicy? Speaking of spicy, I’m thinking we do Mexican food tonight. Anyone up for Chipotle? On me.”

In that moment, MJ’s phone started ringing and she swore in an attempt to turn it off.

Everyone’s heads jerked towards them. A moment passed and Peter desperately wished they could be invisible in this moment.

**_See? We shouldn’t have brought the human! She messed everything up!_** Venom scolded.

“Get them.” Quentin instructed coolly.

“What do we do?” MJ asked him apprehensively.

“No!” Peter replied, maybe to Venom, maybe to Quentin, or maybe just to himself and MJ looked at him with a look of udder confusion, “I mean… follow my lead.”

“But you haven’t taught me anything!”

“Uh… ok, rule number 1! Don’t get shot at!” Peter instructed in response to the team of armed guards that stormed in, guns aimed at them.

“What? That’s terrible ad-VICE!” MJ screamed as she dodged the bullets fired at her.

He swung through the air and kicked one of them in the back of the head. He landed on the ground and ducked as one swung at him from behind. He then whipped around, latched a web onto him, jumped over and swung him into another guard, “Also! Number 2! Always rely on your spider-sense!”

“Who are you talking to?”

Peter turned to Quentin and sighed, “You know, I’ve kind of been having a week. Do you mind if you, like… don’t?”

Quentin pulled a gun on him. Peter sighed again, “You didn’t even think about it, did you? So inconsiderate.”

In that moment, another guard came at him and he punched him in the gut. Quentin then shot at him and he leapt out of the way but couldn’t avoid the one that sunk into his thigh. Shocked by the pain of it at first, Peter grasped his leg but for the brief moment he was distracted, one of the guards took the opportunity to kick him in the ribs and then toss him against the wall. Then pain spreading across his back, ribs, and leg made his body feel like it was on fire. When he coughed, a bit of blood spat out and splattered across the ground.

“I think…” He coughed again, choking a little on his own blood, “Ribs… broken…”

**_Hang on… give me a minute._** Venom frustratedly replied.

Peter glanced at his wounded thigh in confusion as it immediately began to heal, “W-What?” Slowly, he rose up and the pain numbed. He pressed his hand against his ribs and breathed slowly, “Did, did you just-?”

**_Heal your broken bones? Yes. You’re welcome._ **

“Th-thanks.” Peter replied, still in shock, “Thank you.” Another bullet seemed to snap him out of it, and he ducked underneath a sparking computer table and glanced to his right, “MJ!” He rushed over to her. It looked as if the life had been drained out of her, “Hey, hey. Are you ok?”

She shook her head, “No. Oh my God… this was a bad idea.”

Peter placed his hand on her shoulder, “Hey, look at me. I know you’re freaked out; no one ever said this wasn’t going to be scary. But this is the superhero thing. We’re in this right now. This is happening right now. And that’s fine if you know it’s not for you, now’s the perfect time to walk away.” Peter jumped as a bullet flew through the table and between them, “Ok, maybe not literally, but metaphorical, before you get roped up in this. If you don’t want part of this, no one’s making you; it’s a choice. And no matter what you decide, you’re still a hero; you were long before you got spider powers. Now I have to get back out there and finish this and if you decide you want to get out of here, take the ventilation shafts and I’ll meet you at the subway station. But if you want to fight, I believe in you. I know you can do it. You just have to know that for yourself. It’s kind of a leap of faith.” He got up again and swung back into action.

**_If you want this all to go a lot faster…_ **

“Nope, I’m good!” Peter replied brightly but then all of the sudden, Quentin burst back into the center of the room in a cloud of green smoke.

“Let’s finish this Parker!”

**_… Explain this to me?_ **

“None of it is real!” He replied frantically, “His power is illusions.”

The scene began to change, and the air grew colder. He felt himself falling and he shut his eyes as he aimed with his wrist using his spider-sense and shot a web out of his web shooter. He swung up and landed on the ceiling, running along it and jumped to punch him across the face, but he was caught in midair. He was hung by his leg and opened his eyes again to see a giant Mysterio hold him upside down by his leg between his fingertips.

“Well, if I’ve been keeping count of the attempts I’ve had at trying to kill you, third time’s a charm.” He taunted wickedly.

Just then, a web that most certainly wasn’t Peter’s glitched through the scene. Mysterio turned to see who it was and was greeted with a foot to the giant fishbowl, knocking him back and causing him to let go of Peter. A web latched onto him and pulled up. MJ caught Peter in midair and stuck to the wall.


	6. Chapter 6

“MJ! That was awesome!” Peter exclaimed.

She grinned, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face, “Thanks. You know, the whole ‘web-slinging’ thing isn’t _that_ nauseating. I think I can get used to it.”

Mysterio floated up to their level, green energy orbiting his hands, “Alright, I’ll admit. I didn’t see that one coming.” He glared at MJ, “Maybe you’ll listen when I tell you that you don’t want any part in this.”

Just then the room went pitch black as part of Mysterio’s illusion. MJ and Peter were standing on the ground where a singular lamppost shone a few feet away from them.

“MJ, no matter what happens, none of this is real. You’ve got trust your spider-sense.” Peter warned.

“My what?” She glanced at him, confused.

“The ringing thing in the back of your head when there’s danger.”

“Oh… is that what you call it? I thought May and Happy told me it was your Peter Ting-,”

Peter let out an overly loud laugh that cut her off, “Yeah, no. It’s called spider-sense. It’s always been spider-sense.”

MJ raised her brow at him, “If you say so…”  
Mysterio’s voice flooded around them, “You two are cute, I’ll give you that. But if you think I’m about to let two teenagers beat me in a fight, then… you’re mistaken? Sorry, I usually have a script for these things. That sounded kind of cliché back there.”

“Alright, where is this guy so we can beat him up?!” MJ held up her fists enthusiastically.

All the sudden, Mysterio clones appeared and surrounded them. MJ and Peter stood back to back, ready to fight them off.

“Ok, just remember your training.” Peter instructed her.

“Peter you didn’t give me any fricking training!” MJ fired back as she punched through one of them and it disappeared. They both of them swiftly kicked and punched through them in order to make them disappear in clouds of green smoke.

“Alright, where are you?” Peter muttered to himself, glancing around for any glitch in Quentin’s system that might give him away.

**_Up there._** Venom forced him to look up at the ceiling.

He slid underneath the clones and ran along the wall onto the ceiling. He leapt off, kicked Quentin under his chin space on his helmet, and knocked him back as he used a web to swing back onto the ceiling. And sure enough, Mysterio glitched back into visibility.

“Woah, how’d you know he was there?” Peter grinned, “It’s like you sharpened my spider-sense! It doesn’t usually do that unless I’m in super serious danger.”

**_… May I ask your ‘spider-sense’ how being attack by an army of clones isn’t classified as danger?_ **

MJ joined him on the ceiling, “We’re so mental, we’re fighting imaginary clones and winning.”

Peter smirked, “Hey Fishbowl!” He launched himself at him, and Mysterio dodged but Peter swung back around at him. “Alright MJ! Lesson number three! Three, right? I don’t remember which one we were on; it was three or four.”

“As of now, I’m officially being self-taught.” MJ swung over him, attached a web to Mysterio, and landed on the ground. Peter landed on the opposite side of her and together, they pulled him to the ground.

“Quick! Let’s web him up before he-,” He was cut off as Mysterio lurched at him and held him off the ground by his neck.

“Could you do me a big favor and just die already?” He sneered sweetly.

**_Alright, I’m going to do something._ **

“…No…” Peter chocked. _You can’t be seen_. He thought. Just then, Mysterio was knocked back, dropping Peter, after being hit with an entire computer station. He glanced over to see MJ, standing strongly with her fists balled by her sides.

“Hey! Good job! First team-up, and we didn’t screw it up.” Peter held up his fist to MJ and they fist bumped. Then they both jumped as a loud bang sounded and Mysterio disappeared in a cloud of smoke. A long, eerie silence followed.

“So… what usually happens now?” MJ asked.

Peter sighed, “Usually, this is where we web him up for the cops. But we obviously can’t do that.”

MJ looked confused, “But why do we web them up for the cops? Do the cops have to unstick them?”

“Well… no the web fluid dissolves after two hours.” He replied.

“But… the cops would be there before two hours. And wouldn’t they get stuck to the sticky stuff because they don’t spider powers?”

Peter blinked, “You’re really bothered by this aren’t you?”

“Does that mean all the cops have spider powers then?”

“Wh-what? No.”

She stared at him, “…Ok. Anyways, what do you usually do after that?”

“Let’s see if they left anything we need behind.” Peter replied, beginning to search through the rubble.

“Oh yeah!” MJ gasped as she remembered something, “Where’s that thing? You know, ugh, what did they call it? The alien thing! Where do you think it came from; what were they doing with it?”

He hesitated, “It looks like whatever it was, they took it with them.”

“Symbiote!” She interjected and Peter was filled with dread, “Sorry, I just remembered that that was what it was called. Do they want to destroy the planet? That’s typical bad guy stuff, right? Maybe we could salvage some data on that thing off of one of the computers that isn’t entirely destroyed. We probably need to figure out all we can about this thing if we’re going to stop him.”

“I think we should drop it.” He surprised himself with how harsh he sounded and turned to MJ shaken face, “I’m sorry, what I meant was it’s kind of been a rough day. And all the computers are smashed, but they’re sure to have a backup that we can find some other time. I’m sure there’s a lot going through your head, and we still need to get you home.”

MJ nodded slowly, processing what he had just said, “Peter, are you ok?” She asked concernedly.

“Yeah.” He replied, a little surprised, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re a lot of things and I’d hate to see a liar become one of them.” She tilted her head at him, “Plus, you’re terrible at it. You’re obviously not ok. What’s going on?”

“There’s just…” He sighed, “Sometimes things begin to weigh on top of each other and it gets to be a lot.” He looked up at her, “I guess I’m just trying to balance it all right now. I’m so sorry MJ. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

MJ reached towards Peter and held him, “I say this because I love you: shut up. You’re allowed to be stressed. And we can work on that.”

He gave a light laugh, “I love you too.”

She smiled and gestured around the room, “On the plus side, we know where his base is.”

“Yeah, but they’re probably relocating to a new one as we speak.” He sighed.

“It’s a start. Don’t push me, I’m supposed to be the pessimistic one.”

Peter gave a light laugh, “Alright.”

“Ok, so is this it? Because I know you at least have to be at school tomorrow so I don’t seem like a terrible influence.” MJ teased.

“Yeah. Hey, you didn’t do bad for your first fight.” He grinned.

“I think I did pretty good!” She beamed, “I mean, I saved your ass, like, three times!”

“Alright, alright. Now, you might be giving yourself a little much credit.”

“Am I wrong though?” MJ laughed, “Alright… let’s go home.”

Peter gasped excitedly, “I can teach you to web-sling on the way back!”

She gave a sarcastic laugh and placed her hand on his shoulder, “You’re cute.”

“It’s really not that bad.” He insisted.

“Baby steps.” MJ replied, “Besides, I think I’ve had enough Spider-Manning for tonight.”

Peter smiled, “That’s fair.” He took her home and despite the darkness swimming around in his brain, he smiled knowing that they had each other. He wasn’t entirely sure this had happened to MJ for the best, but nevertheless it was nice to have someone who understood it all and for the first time he didn’t feel like he was on his own with all the ‘Spider-Man’ stuff. Besides, whatever happened, they could take it.


	7. Chapter 7

Venom’s restlessness wouldn’t let Peter sleep, so he now stood on the roof of their apartment building, a chill shook his hair and the ends of his unzipped jacket he had thrown over his pajamas. This restless made him uneasy. Every time it happened, he felt a wave of darkness crash over him and he was scared of it. Mostly losing himself to it. But it was harder to face something that was literally crawling around inside you. Especially something purposefully let in.

**_You’re scared of me?_ **

Peter jerked at the sudden clear sound of his voice in his head, “No, I’m not.”

**_I don’t want you to be scared of me._ **

“I’m not.” He repeated, feeling more unsteady with himself as he said it.

**_Until we find Eddie, it’s you and me. We’re one. You need me to save your friend and quite possibly your planet and I need you to save my friend._ **

He nodded slowly, “Alright, then what are we going to do about it?”

**_We know where he had Eddie._ **

“Technically, we don’t know if that’s where Eddie is; all we know is that was Quentin’s base of operation so he could still technically be anywhere… but it is a start.” He rose to his feet and drifted to the edge of the roof, “We’ve got a few more hours before I have to be back to go to school.”

**_Then let’s go._ **

Peter let Venom grow around him and he jumped off the roof. All the lights were blurred as he swung through the city. They reached the base that was still tore apart from the fight that had taken place just a few hours ago. He pulled open the door on the far end of the lab and turned on his phone flashlight that dimly lit up the hallway ahead of him.

**_I meant what I said earlier._ **

Peter hummed, “And what was that?”

**_I don’t want you to be scared. Believe it or not, I’ve grown quite found of you._ **

“Aww! That might actually be the nicest thing you’ve said to me!” He beamed, “You know, I think I’m beginning to like you too!”

**_But I’m worried because for a human being as small as you, you are very easily stressed and anxious._ **

Peter didn’t say anything at first, “Yeah, well I guess I’ve always been. It doesn’t take much to trigger a whole lot of anxiety in me.”

**_Eddie had an anxiety disorder. It seems like you might have a similar condition._ **

“I actually have ADHD. That’s what makes me really fidgety or jumpy so I can’t sit still for long periods of time and I can lose focus, like when I’m fighting and all of the sudden, I start talking about whatever.”

**_This is different than that though._ **

“Well I’m sure you don’t want me seeing a therapist about it or anything. No doctors, remember?” He joked, then continued more seriously, “Hey, I’m seriously not scared of you. I don’t want you to think that. I’m just scared of what’s going to happen.”

**_To you?_ **

“To everyone if I mess up. If I lose somebody else important to me. If I’m not fast enough, or not strong enough to save someone I care about.” He sighed, “I just always seem to forget it can always end like that. With someone dying.”

**_Those are large fears for someone so young._ **

He shrugged sadly, “Maybe.” All the sudden, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger, “Something’s happening.”

**_Watch out!_ **

Lasers fired out of the walls around them and as Peter flipped through the air to avoid them, Venom protected him like a cocoon. When he got to the end of the hall, the door wouldn’t budge.

“Come on, come on!” Peter tried kicking the door until a blast took him out.

 ** _Let me._** And after that, he blacked out for a moment but the next thing he knew was the door was open.

“Cool.” The sound of the laser blasts died behind him as he entered the room, “What is this place?”

There were large monitors all along the walls and a large, glass chamber stood at the far end of the room. One of the screens seemed to have footage of the room they were in, and when Peter hit rewind he gasped. The screen showed Eddie in the same chamber.

Venom growled furiously inside him. “Wait.” Peter tried to calm him down, “Let’s see what this is.”

“What do you know about the symbiotes?” The interrogator in the recording asked him.

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew something.” He replied gruffly.

“Playing dumb isn’t going to work on us. We already know you’ve had a symbiote living inside of you.”

“What have you done to Fury?”

The interrogator looked furious, “Mr. Brock you’re not the one asking questions here.”

“Listen lady, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Trust me, you don’t want an army of symbiotes running rampant on this planet.”

She laughed, “Oh, I highly doubt they’ll be running rampant. Now, we need everything you know about symbiotes and we’ll make sure we get it. So, I suggest you start talking before things get uglier than they need to be.”

The rest of the video erupted in resistance and tasers. Peter stopped it so they wouldn’t see anymore.

**_We need to see if he told them._ **

“Are you sure?” He asked concernedly.

**_…Yes._ **

Peter let the video play again and ended up skipping most of the electrically shocking until they saw what they needed to see. Quentin, who had now appeared on the screen announced they would be relocating him and Fury to a different facility that might encourage them to give some answers.

**_We have to get to the L.I.F.E. facility. Now._ **

“Venom, we _can’t_.” Peter replied helplessly, “We realistically can’t unless some stroke of luck lets us magically go to San Francisco. We’re stuck because I _don’t_ have money and I _do_ have school and authority figures. It’s a miracle I’ve kept you a secret.”

**_We have to._ **

“Venom I heard you!” He sighed, rubbing his eyes, “I know this is super bad. Just, let me go to school today, it’s Thursday, and I’ll have something figured out by tomorrow, I promise.”

**_… I don’t know about this._ **

“Perfect. Now I have to swing all the way back if I’m going to make it to Midtown in time.”

**_Wait, what’s that?_ **

Peter looked down at the business card lying next to the monitor and picked it up. It was royal purple with gold lettering that read: “Black Cat’s Crime Club”.

“Hmm… Well, that’s pretty suspicious.”

**_Does it have an address?_ **

“Yeah. And the number of this lady Felicia Hardy. That name sounds familiar…”

**_That’s who Quentin said he got the symbiote Lasher from._ **

Peter gasped, “You’re right! Tell you what, school first, then this, then I should have a way to get us to San Francisco.”

**_I will accept this._ **

“Yes! It’s all coming together!” He beamed before hurrying off to school.

* * *

“Tony, I’m worried about Peter.” Strange urged, trying to get the attention of the man just as stubborn as he was after teleporting in his nature habitat: his laboratory.

“So, let me get this straight: some magic spider lady from another dimension came to you and told you she can’t see into his head so that’s a problem? How come I’m more comfortable with it like that.” Tony replied as ignorantly to this issue as he predicted he would.

Strange sighed, “Tony, you don’t understand, it’s not like that. You might not like this, but someone is always watching. And it’s scary, but much scarier if no one can see what one person is doing. He might’ve gotten himself into trouble.”

Tony froze at this, then shook his head, “Have you seen him lately?”

“He came to talk to me about Europe a couple of days ago. He seemed fine then, but I think he is still troubled by his encounter with Quentin Beck. When was the last time you saw him?”

“A couple of days ago too.”

“And he was ok?”

Tony closed his eyes and nodded, “Look, I keep trying to tell myself all the time that he’s ok, because after Thanos, if anything else happened to him I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. So, you’re really spazing me out right now on a ‘maybe he’s getting into trouble’.”

“Tony, I think this is worth being a protective father figure over.”

“Excuse me, what did you just say?”

He smirked, “We both know that’s how you think of him.”

“Mentor/mentee, is how I think of him for your information. And after he gets done with school today, I’ll call him and then we can take him on our next mission. That’s right, you’re babysitting too.”

Strange groaned, “Tony, I can’t. And why me? Why not Scott?”

“Because you’re the one who made me nervous in the first place. And besides, it’ll be fun. Two dads with their spider kid on a good old-fashioned family road trip.” Tony joked, putting his arm around Stephen.

“Exhilarating.” He replied sarcastically, “At least you’re living up to the whole ‘father’ nonsense.”

“Cool. You’re on board. Now get out of here; ever since Fury went missing, Maria’s been up my ass. More than usual.” Tony paused, “Maybe Peter knows about that and is taking it harshly. He gets pretty attached to people.”

“’Sad’ doesn’t disconnect you from the multiverse.”

“Bye.”

Strange shot him one last concerned glance before disappearing into a portal. As soon as he was gone, Tony sighed. Hadn’t Peter been through enough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far! This was an idea I had back in 2018 right after Venom came out and since COVID-19, I finally came back to it and had time to write it. When I wrote this one and Avengers: Endgame, I like to have the work 100% finished before I start posting so I can edit. However, Adventures in Symbiote-Sitting has been complete for about six weeks now and editing has been a pain, so that's why I've only been posting once a week. I'm also working on the next work in the WeirdFanGirl Avengers series, so I've also been distracted with that. So basically, my extended summer has been writing multiple fanfiction novels because... I guess why not? All in all, I'm going to change how frequently I'm updating to every other day so I can get this out for you guys faster and we're not all waiting around for thirty weeks to get the entire thing on ao3. That's all for now! Have an amazing day! :)


	8. Chapter 8

During first period, Ned leaned over to Peter and whispered, “Dude, why are you wearing your pajamas?”

“Didn’t have time to change.” He mumbled through exhaustion.

“Were you doing, you know… ‘Stark Internship’ stuff all night?”

Peter nodded, rubbing his eyes.

Ned looked concerned and as if he was going to say something else, but then decided against it. MJ exchanged a glance with Peter from the other side of the classroom and he gave a small wave. She tilted her head concernedly at him and Peter responded with a weak smile and shrug.

Between transition to their next class, Ned stopped at the water fountain and Peter waited with him.

“Peter, are you sure you’re ok?”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Yes, for the hundredth time _Mom_.” He teased.

“I’m serious. You’ve been acting kind of weird lately.”

“What do you mean?” Peter asked, hurt.

“You seem really spaced out. And you, I don’t know, you haven’t been yourself lately.”

“Ned, I’m fine.” He replied shortly, then added, “Seriously, you don’t have to worry about me. It’s ok.”

“Peter, I know you. Something’s wrong and if something’s seriously wrong then-,”

“Ned! Nothing’s wrong!” He exclaimed throwing his arms in the air. He surprised himself with how irritated he actually sounded. He could feel people staring at them.

Ned sighed as they walked to class, “I’m not trying to fight with you. Whatever’s going or not going on, I hope you can figure it out.”

Before Peter could reply, Flash Thompson strode between them, “Looks like Penis Parker and his boyfriend are having some relationship issues.”

Ned rolled his eyes, “Do you ever take a day off?”

Flash shrugged, “It’s the little things that bring me joy. Besides, we all know Parker can’t be gay; I can only imagine what he and his girlfriend were doing yesterday.”

Peter inhaled sharply, balling his fists by his sides and the edges of his version turned black. Ned’s eyes widened as he noticed. Flash noticed too. He gave a hysterical laugh, “Oh! Are you trying to fight me?! Bring it on Penis Parker! Bring it on!”

“That’s ok.” Ned replied, grabbing Peter by the arm and practically dragging him to their next class, “What the heck man?!” He hissed.

“What?!”

“What was that?” He finally stopped and grabbed Peter by his shoulders, “Peter?”

He blinked and then looked down, “I don’t know.” He replied quietly.

“Peter…”

“Gentlemen, I’m going to have to ask you not to stand in the doorway.”

Peter brushed past Ned and the teacher, making his way to his desk. Throughout class, Ned continued to shoot Peter concerned glances that he tried his best to avoid. The few times he did glance back at him, he worried that there was a pleading in his expression because his glances only made Ned look more anxious. He didn’t know how to explain to Ned an alien was living in his body, much less what else was going on. He wasn’t even sure he could explain it to himself. It was almost like he was feeling more distant every day. Quite honestly, he was feeling a bit out of his own character and he didn’t need Ned to point it out for him. It was great to have people who cared, but sometimes, and it felt really wrong, he wished they would go away so he could deal with his struggles on his own.

Ever since Venom had come around, he had felt a light headache, more like a buzz in the back of his head, that had begun to increase, turning the edges of his vision black. Similar to what had just happened with Flash. He was sure they were linked to when Venom had more control over him, especially when he completely blacked out. But strangely enough, he was hardly afraid of it anymore. He felt that they had almost made peace, especially after their last mission, and that it was about time they started working together and trusting each other more. Besides, he didn’t see the harm of destroying Flash’s ego in the process. However, maybe he should be embracing this newfound relationship with Venom with just a little more caution…

* * *

“Do you think this is good for tonight?” Peter asked Venom, holding up his tux in the mirror of his bedroom.

Venom sighed. **_You still have a relatively long time before you can even sneak out to go to this thing._**

“I know, but I have no idea what a crime club is like! I just wanna make sure I blend in, you know?”

**_In that cause, it’s a bit flashy._** He commented.

“Well, this is the only one I have, so we’re going to make it work!”

**_Then what was the point of that?_ **

Peter grinned and shrugged, flopping on his bed.

**_Why don’t you usually stand up to those jerks at your juvenile prison?_ **

“… You mean school?”

**_No, I didn’t._ **

“That’s fair.” He sighed, “I don’t know. At first, I couldn’t. And I still can’t because I don’t really want people to see me different and suspect anything.”

**_We both know you don’t exactly feel that anymore._ **

Maybe he was right… No, Spider-Man had to remain a secret, so that meant no showing off. Ever. He shrugged, “Maybe not. But they’re not exactly worth my time anymore. Or at least Spider-Man’s.”

**_You don’t have to say that to yourself. Wouldn’t you love to shut them up for once?_ **

Peter sat up in his bed, “Of course! But…”

**_Why do they pick on you?_ **

He laughed, shaking his head, “There’s always been this list. You can bet not a lot of bisexual trans high school students get away without any insults, hence the ‘Penis Parker’ bit. Flash is about seventy percent of the bullying I get anyways. I’m not great socially, but I didn’t really mind that because Ned was the only friend I really needed. I guess that’s why people think we’re dating all the time. I’m also the ‘nerdy’ kid, and for the longest time I couldn’t win a fight. All super typical reasons to pick on someone but people are just kind of jerks like that, so I don’t really care what they think most of the time. I’m actually probably the one who beats up myself the most.”

Venom didn’t respond at first. **_So, you’re a loser too?_**

“Well that’s kind of harsh given the subject we were literally just talking about.”

**_No, it is that Eddie was a loser too. And so was I. I am beginning to think I have a type in hosts._ **

Peter laughed, “Ok, sure.”

**_Humans are so strange. I cannot understand why you would be tormented over such a thing as gender expression._ **

He sighed, realizing Venom was looking through his memories, “Yeah, since the beginning I knew I was a boy. A lot of people were super accepting of that, I mean, Mr. Stark even paid for my top surgery after the Civil War! But even before that, a lot of others couldn’t see me like that. All the trans shaming through school messed with me. A lot. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me anymore. I’m past it because, I’m literally Spider-Man! And that’s all that matters to me. This is how I view myself, and nobody else’s opinion really matter.”

**_That sort of thing is very common with my kind. Symbiotes have ever fluctuating genders._ **

Peter smiled. Just then, his phone rang, and he gasped. It was Tony.

“Hold up, why’s he calling me? He never calls!”

**_Then don’t answer._ **

“Send Tony Stark to voicemail? That’s funny, that’s a good one.” He laughed before answering, “Hey…?”

“Hey Kid. How’s it going?” Tony's voice came in from the over the phone.

“Um… good, I guess?” He exchanged a glance with Venom whose inky black form had appeared over his shoulder.

“You’re not, I don’t know… getting yourself into trouble or anything?”

“What? Oh, um, no?” Something about this felt really weird.

“Ok, just, you know you can talk to me, right Kid?”

“Yeah…” He replied.

**“What is happening?”**

Peter tried to shush Venom for in this case Tony _would_ be able to hear him over the phone as he continued, “You know, if something is happening… I’m not saying that anything’s happening but, I don’t know, just… I’m here for you Kid. I just need you to let me know when you need me.”

“O-oh. Thank you, Mr. Stark. I’m…” He breathed in, “I’m ok.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before Tony responded, “Cool. Great! I figured you were I just wanted to make sure… hey, I actually gotta go do something but if there’s something you ever want to talk to me about, you know, just call me.”

“Ok, I will.” He smiled.

“Alrighty then. Bye Pete.”

“Bye Mr. Stark.”

“I wonder what that was about.” Peter muttered after hanging up, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, that was really sweet, but…”

**_Seriously? He’s onto us._ **

“Wait, but… how? We’ve been so careful!”

**_We have to hurry and complete our mission._ **

“Right, I know. We’ll get to San Francisco.” He sighed, “Somehow. Let’s focus on how we’re getting into this crime club.”


	9. Chapter 9

Miles took out the security guards one by one, invisible so it was nearly impossible for them to land a hit back. He was on a rescue mission to free Cindy Moon, the soon to be Spider-Woman of this other dimension according to Madame Web. Ever since his first encounter with people like him from other dimensions and saving the multiverse, he had mostly kept to his dimension. But apparently Madame Web was a Spider-Woman from another dimension that could see all the possible future outcomes from spider-people from any dimension. She had come to his dimension to ask for his help so now he was dimension-hopping and saving the multiverse part two.

He finally reached the cell he was at least ninety eight percent positive was Cindy’s. Using his venom strike, he short circuited the lock on the cell door and as it slid open, he stepped inside.

“Yo, is Cindy Moon here?” He called, “I’m here to rescue-, oof!” He was cut off as she leapt off the ceiling and tackled him to the ground, “…you.” He finished, strained as she choked him. He grabbed hold of both her wrists and shocked her, forcing here to let go.

“Hey, hey, hey, wait!” He held up his hands and she stopped, tilting her head.

“You’re like me.” She finally said. Her silky black hair hung just at her shoulders. She had chestnut brown, crescent shaped eyes. She wore a solid white jumpsuit and a calm seemed to settle over her posture.

He nodded, “Yeah I’m Miles and I’m here to get you out of here.”

She shook her head sadly and turned away, “I’m sorry, but I have an agreement.”

“Wait hold up; you _want_ to be here?” He asked in disbelief.

“Of course not!” She laughed humorlessly, “But I have to. If I ever want to see my family again, I have to cure what’s wrong with me.”

“You mean your spider powers?” He asked and she nodded, “Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Miles, I’m not sure you understand, but I’m a danger to everyone I care about.” She replied, pained to say it.

“I don’t believe that.” He replied, “You said it yourself: you’re like me. You don’t have to hurt anyone unless you want to. You’re capable of some pretty awesome stuff. And you’re the only one who gets to choose what you’re going to do with it.”

She stared at him, apprehension in her eyes, “What if I’m not ready for the world? What if I mess it up anyways?”

He blinked, remembering the time he questioned if he was ready, “You won’t know. It’s just a leap of faith. That’s all it is.” Miles replied.

Cindy nodded slowly, and her expression lifted just a little, “Man, it’s been so long since I’ve even been outside.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Oh, I don’t know, five years, give or take.” She replied casually.

“Five years?!” Miles gasped, “You were just waiting in this cell for five years?!”

“Bunker, actually. And…” She sighed, fidgeting with her hands, “Yeah.”

“Bro, that is so Rapunzel. Did you talk to anybody?”

“Ezekiel.” She said through gritted teeth, “The snake checked on me once a year on the screen. Each time it was the same. They would ‘almost’ have a cure and I just had to keep waiting. In here. Where I couldn’t hurt anybody.” She gasped, “Miles, he’s gonna be here any second! You have to help me take him!”

“Relax, it’s ok! He’s dead. He died in a car crash. That’s how we found out you were here. All his records were revealed.

“Oh.” She looked… disappointed? “Strange. Thought his death would have been a bit more dramatic. Preferable me causing it.” She looked up at him, “That’s bad isn’t it?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I could tell you. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like to go through all of that.” Miles replied sympathetically.

She sighed, nodding sadly.

“If it helps any, I’m here to help you through it.” He offered, smiling and holding out his hand for a handshake but jumped a little as she ran in for a hug.

“Sorry.” She said after she let him go, “It’s just been a really long time since I’ve interacted face to face with another human being.” Her face then began to light up with the idea of freedom, “Oh my gosh! Let’s go! I bet there’s so much that’s changed in five-ish years! I have to go find my family and tell them I’m ok! Are brownies still a thing? Do people still drive in cars? Can we go to McDonalds?”

He smiled sadly, not wanting to ruin her moment, “Yeah, sure. But first, I hate to ask you after you just got your freedom, but…”

“Yeah, yeah. Madame Web lady came to me in this vision sort of thing and told me all about the multiverse junk. It’s kind confusing but I think I got the gist. Sure, I’ll help you. But first my family and McDonalds.”

Miles grinned, “Deal.”

* * *

“Huh. You think they would’ve fixed the ice cream machine after five-ish years.” Cindy shrugged, “But at least I got my fries. You want some?”

Miles nodded, rolling up his mask so he could eat, “Thanks!” He then pulled out his own cheeseburger from his bag and pointed down at the apartment, “That’s yours?”

She nodded, unboxing her chicken nuggets, “Yeah…” She sighed, “Leap of faith, huh? I still don’t think I’m ready for this. I’m almost scared they wouldn’t remember me. Or maybe they would be disappointed to still see me like this.”

Miles shook his head, “I don’t think so. I think they’ll be overjoyed to see their daughter again, then pissed she decided to go to McDonalds before seeing them first.”

Cindy laughed, “Yeah… Thank you Miles.”

“Sure thing.” He smiled.

“So… We’re stopping the collapse of the multiverse by saving a version of Spider-Man from another dimension?” She asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, she can’t reach this version of Peter Parker, I’m sorry but there are so many Peter Parkers floating around the multiverse, and that means he’s in trouble I guess. Plus, if we don’t stop whatever’s going to happen in his dimension, it will mean the multiverse collapses.” He paused, “Hey, I’m going to call a friend of mine to help us, if you wanna go see your family now.”

Cindy nodded slowly, “Yeah…” She took a deep breath, “I’m ready.” She stood and launched her web onto the building, “Be right back.” She had learned that apparently not many of the other ‘spider people’ had organic web fluid, but at least she wouldn’t run out anytime soon. Deciding it would be way creepy to knock on the window, Cindy swung down to the side of the building and took the elevator like a normal person. After she stepped off and trotted down the hall to the door she knew belonged to her family, she knocked and questioned her decision. What if they didn’t even live here anymore?

She jumped a little as the door finally opened. A short, dark haired woman with large glasses framing the same eyes as Cindy’s stood in the doorway, and her entire expression broke down upon seeing her.

“Cindy?” She gasped quietly, on the verge of tears. So was Cindy.

“Mom!” She cried and her mother wrapped her in a tight hug. Cindy hugged her back for the life of her.

“Nari? Who is it?” Her dad came to the door alongside her brother, Albert, “Cindy?!” He gasped, “Honey, is it really you?”

Cindy’s answer was choked through a sob. Albert was so much taller than when she had last saw him. She missed out on so much. But she was here now. The Moon family all hugged in the doorway of their apartment for what seemed like five-ish long overdue years.


	10. Chapter 10

It was eleven p.m. when Peter finally snuck out making it almost midnight by the time he reached the club, which seemed to look like an abandoned warehouse. But he supposed most secret villain clubs were secretive like this. Venom disappeared back into him, revealing his suit and tie underneath the symbiote suit. He still wasn’t entirely sure how to handle a club and had tried to briefly ask Aunt May what they were like at dinner without raising too much suspicion, but he wasn’t confident in enacting a mission on what had been a pretty light conversation on her experiences. He had also been focused on looking for cheap airline tickets to get to San Francisco, but he hadn’t had any luck, nor did he think he could ask for money without suspicion from anyone. He was down to simply web-slinging and bus riding his way there. 

Peter shook his head, took a deep breath, and marched up to the club. The guard at the large, sleek metal door was tall and dark, wearing sunglasses even though it was pitch black outside. Maybe they were night vision or something. He lifted them up and sent a disapproving glance down at Peter.

“Hey.” Peter coughed as his voice cracked, “Hey.” He tried again, deepening his voice.

The guard shook his head.

“It’s ok.” Peter held up the business card, “I have an appointment with Ms. Hardy.” He lied.

“No.” He replied stiffly.

“Why?”

The guard raised his brow, “Because you are _way_ too young. What are you, a middle schooler?”

“No! I’m an adult! I promise, I’m above twenty-one!”

“Really? Let’s see your ID.”

Peter blinked, “Oh. Wait a sec, does age exactly matter? Isn’t this, like, for criminals?”

“No.” The guard scoffed, “It’s for people willing to disregard the law for business.”

“Sounds like criminals to me.”

“Listen Kid, why don’t you turn around and go home before you get hurt.”

**Venom morphed around Peter and growled, “Why don’t you mind your own business and before we crush your skull?”**

The guard’s eyes widened, and he nodded slowly, opening the door.

“Thank you!” Peter beamed after Venom had shrunk back into him and he walked through. He had been right; the club was electric and lively on the inside. It was also much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Music blasted all around them and strobe lights highlighted the people dancing with drinks in their hands. Peter realized he must have looked very out of place moving about on the sides trying to avoid everything and everyone. It had just occurred to him that he didn’t even know what Felicia Hardy looked like.

Clubs were kind of scary. To be fair, this was the only club he had been to, plus it was apparently a crime club. But the people were kind of scary. Everyone seemed extremely touchy with one another, most likely from being drunk; something that made Peter very uncomfortable. He quite frankly seemed a bit overdressed compared to the lack of clothing everyone else had on, exposing tattoos and battle scars.

The far end of the club was more calmly lit, and the music was drowned down by talk of business at the array of tables and booths past the bar. Nobody there looked entirely friendly either. Peter watched in horror as one man beat the other’s head on the table and the two then pulled knifes on each other.

“This was a bad idea.” Peter muttered to himself. The music and smell of alcohol was already beginning to give him a splitting headache. He winced as someone slumped their arm over his shoulder.

“Enjoying the party?” A tall, silver haired woman asked. She wore a long black, fur lined party dress and strange, bulky black gloves. She had a wicked smile on her face and large, bright green eyes.

“Yeah.” He replied with a weak smile.

Her face immediately sobered, and she tilted her head to examine him, “Don’t you think it’s a little past your bedtime?”

“Wh-what?” He stammered, figuring she knew he wasn’t supposed to be here.

She shook her head and laughed, patting him on the shoulder, “Walk with me.”

Peter realized he didn’t have much of a choice for she still kept her arm around him.

“What’s your name, Kid?”

“Um… Parker.” He replied, the internally cursed himself for making such a stupid error.

“You have a first name Parker?”

“Nope.”

She laughed, “I like you Parker. You’re smart. Don’t talk to strangers. But then again, you’re here anyways.”

Peter didn’t know how to reply, but she thankful kept talking, “What’s your business here Parker? You’re clearly not here to have a good time.”

“I’m actually looking for a Felicia Hardy.”

She grinned, surprised, “Ooo, heading right for the boss, are we? She’s a feisty one, I’ll tell you that.”

“You know her?”

“Well of course I know her. She’s me.” She beamed.

Peter gasped, “That was like what Obi Wan said!”

Felicia laughed, “Oh my god, Parker you are literally adorable! Alright, you got me. Let’s go talk business. Can I get you a drink?”

“Um… no thanks. Thank you, but I’m actually ok.”

“You’re underage.” She deadpanned.

He sighed, “Yeah, I’m totally underage.”

Felicia smirked, “If it makes you feel better, I think literally everybody already knows. But don’t worry…” She winked, walking to the bar, “I won’t tell the cops. Why don’t you go get us a table?”

When she came back, she sat across from Peter in the booth, a multicolored cocktail in her hand, “You sure you don’t want anything? You wanna look at the menu? You hungry?”

“No.” He began as Felicia took off her heels and set them on the table near her.

“Sorry, those things were killing me.” She replied to Peter’s confused expression, “Anywoo, what can I do ya for?”

“I wanted to know about a symbiote.”

Her whole expression shifted to a furious aggression, “Oh! You can go back and tell your slimy son of a bitch of a boss that there’s no way in hell he’s crawling back to dare try to get another bargain from me after what he pulled! And to stoop as low as to send a child to do his bidding!”

“Woah, woah! Hey! Quentin Beck, right? I know; I’m not really a fan of his either.” He held up his hands to show he was on her side, “I actually wanted to ask about him too. I’m trying to stop him.”

“Oh!” She exclaimed, taking a sip of her drink, “Sorry, I just assumed, suit and all, that you were here on behalf of him. I was trying to figure out about what was so familiar about you and I realized you two have very similar tastes.”

Peter shuddered at this, “I don’t believe that. I’m not anything like him.”

She smiled, “This is good. Mutual hate relationship, I like it. And we both have a bone to pick with Beck, so I can tell we’re going to get along just fine. I like to build my relationships, you know, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. So, what do you want to know about the symbiotes?”

“Where did you find them? What did Beck want with them?” He asked.

“First of all, that information is going to cost you.”

Peter blinked. Despite going to a club with a bunch of criminals, he didn’t have anything to bargain with.

“How bout this? I don’t usually deal with relaying information to people, so you can pay me back with the trouble it took to get it. You own me one. One teensy, little, probably really difficult favor when I’m in a pinch. Deal?”

Seeing as there weren’t many other options, he nodded, “Deal.”

“So… does Parker have a first name now?”

Peter sighed, “Yeah. Peter.”

“Peter Parker. Pleasure to be doing business with you.” Felicia held out her and he shook it, “So, let’s see. The symbiotes were smuggled from a government transport. Some space operation with a crashed spaceship carrying samples from another planet.”

**_Something about this doesn’t add up…_ **

“Anywoo, they were put up for auction and Beck was the first bid.” She continued, “He had intel that there was supposedly an army of these things coming to Earth and he had something he wanted to say about that. But he conned me.” She laughed, “He conned me good. But with what I’ve got in store, well, he’s gonna see that when you mess with the cat you get the claws.”

**_Fury and Eddie must’ve have been his intel. But none of this explains why he wants an army of symbiotes to overtake your planet._ **

“You didn’t get the symbiotes from the L.I.F.E. foundation?” Peter asked to clarify.

She looked confused, “The what?”

“They were the ones who first had the symbiotes, right?”

“No, weren’t you paying attention? Government operation. The Area 51 kind of stuff. And I’ve never heard of any L.I.F.E. foundation.”

**_This really isn’t adding up._ **

“One more thing,”

“Hold on Kid, give me a sec.” Felicia’s attention was at the table across from them. Well, the table was now actually crushed under the weight of one guy thrown across by another.

“Hey!” She barked, standing and approaching them. Peter now knew why her gloves looked so strange; razor sharp, metallic claws emerged from them, “I’m gonna have to ask you fellas to take it outside.”

One of them turned to her, cracking his knuckles. He was probably a good foot taller than her, but just as Peter stood to stop him, Felicia viciously fought both of the attackers off. They screamed in pain as she clawed and kicked them. The party was put on pause as she dragged them to the door and tossed them outside. When she came back in, she dusted off her hands and the music started back up again.

“Sorry bout that.” She shook her head and they both sat down again, “Sometimes you gotta take out the trash. What was the ‘one more thing’?”

“Do you know anything about Beck’s kidnapping of Nick Fury and Eddie Brock?”

Her expression shifted as if she were looking at him in a new light, “That’s interesting…”

“What?”

“Why the interest?”

“We’re… acquaintances.” He replied simply.

She nodded slowly, “Yeah, ok. But there’s something you should know; Beck doesn’t have Fury. He let him go.”

“Wh-what?” Peter muttered softly, “No… that’s, why? Where is he now?”

Felicia gave him another strange look before replying, “I don’t know. And I don’t care. The more out of our hair he is, the better.”

Now it made sense. He was supposed to be pretending to be a criminal that belonged here. The concern about Nick Fury was seriously giving him away.

“And I’ve never heard of an Eddie Brock.” She replied.

Peter nodded slowly, “Alright… well, thank you anyways for everything else.”

Her laugh sent a shiver down his spine, “Now, wait just a minute Peter Parker. Here’s the issue now. It seems like you have some sort of connection to Nick Fury. And with that means there’s a connection to S.H.E.I.L.D. And I can’t have that drawn to my establishment here.” She smiled sadly, “Sorry, you seemed like a nice kid.”

She extended her claws again, but Peter swiftly dodged as she lurched at him and grabbed her arm. Felicia whipped around and sliced at him, but he ducked and then took his chance to leap over her, letting himself run on the ceiling for a split second, and then dropped behind her, punching her in the face when she turned around again. She swore loudly, taken aback but then she drop-kicked him. Peter gasped, barely rolling out of the way in time before she dug her claws into the spot on the ground where he had previously been. When he got back up, she sliced at him again, literally backing him into a corner.

“Alright Venom. Let’s go.”

**_You don’t have to tell me twice!_ **

Peter held out his hand and inky black symbiote stretched, latched onto Felicia and yanking her, knocking her into the wall. He balled his hands into fists in front of him defensively as she pushed herself up again.

She huffed furiously at him, running and jumping into a high kick. Peter leaned into a backflip from the impact. Venom emerged around him, catching him, and then stretching into multiple strands that targeted Felicia. She sliced through him and grabbed Peter by the arms and the two faced off. Her eyes flickered gold for a brief second and soon, she dug her claws into his arms and while he flinched in pain, she sliced him across the chest; a fit he should have had no trouble blocking.

“I have this little power…” She admitted, retracting her claws and adjusting her gloves, “It’s luck. Bad luck; for my enemies. It’s why they call me Black Cat. You don’t want to cross me.” She placed her foot on his chest, that Venom thankfully was almost done healing from the cuts, and pressed down, “I really hate that it had to come down to this Parker. I really think we could’ve gotten along. But after I’ve built up my life, my reputation… I have to squash any pesky little bug that might ruin that for me.” She held up her hand and waved to the crowd, “Hey fellas! We’ve got ourselves a S.H.E.I.L.D. lover in here!”

The crowd muttered darkly to one another as they slowly emerged on them.

“That’s right.” She sneered wickedly, “Let’s show him what we think of that.”

Peter began to panic, searching for a way out.

**_Let me handle this._ **

He sighed, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, letting Venom take over. The symbiote burst out and tore through the crowd. They screamed and while some tried to flee and the few that tried to fight back, he attacked viciously. Soon enough, they all laid on the floor, unconscious.

**_Ok. Now let’s bite off all the heads and stack the bodies in the corner._ **

“Let’s not.” Peter replied sarcastically.

**_I’m hungry._** Venom complained.

He sighed, “Hershy’s bars. After this.” He promised.

**_You’re no fun._ **

“I am plenty fun. We might be buddies now, but I’m still drawing the line there. And what’s your deal with the heads all the time?”

Felicia aka Black Cat stood with three goons behind her, one of the holding a large missile gun.

“I was thinking this is a good time to leave.” Peter commented to Venom.

**_Agreed._ **

Peter raced outside and ducked, watching a missile glide over his head and hit the brick wall in front of him.

“Oh my gosh!” Peter exclaimed, running, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”

**_Can you ride a motorcycle?_ **

“Can I what?” Peter asked, his gaze trailing to the row of motorcycles on the side of the street, “Oh… boy.” He sighed. He had lost his extra cartridge of web fluid, probably due to Black Cat’s jinx. This was going to have to work.

He swung his leg over the side of the nearest one and screamed as he made it roar to life, and it screeched down the street.

“I have no idea how to do this!” He cried, serving in the road, “This is nothing like the game they had at Chuck E. Cheese!”

**_Just calm down. Ease off on the throttle. Shift your gear, and ease in a little more again._ **

“Ok, ok, throttle… um…” Peter took a deep breath and did as Venom instructed. It took him a minute to figure out what everything was, but soon it started to make sense and he felt more comfortable with it, “Hey, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this!”

Just then, another missile flew past and Peter nearly fell off turning to see that the goons were chasing him on their motorcycles as well.

“Nope. I don’t got this. This is very, very bad.” He began to panic again.

**_Focus. Concentrate ahead. Use your ‘spider sense’ to serve out of the way when you need to. I’ll take care of them too. Just keep driving._ **

“I don’t even have a driver’s license!”

**_That’s what’s concerning you right now?!_ **

Peter stiffened as two of the goons pulled up on either side of him, trying to stay focused. Venom stretched out and knocked them both off their motorcycles on either side of him.

“Thanks!” Peter beamed.

He swerved across the road as his spider sense rang in his head, avoiding another missile and gunfire.

“How many of these guys are there?”

**_Eight? Watch out!_ **

Peter gasped as a semi-truck pulled out in front of him at the intersection. Before he was entirely aware of what he was doing, he turned to the side and slid underneath it, the whole time feeling like the stunt was in slow motion.

“Oh my God.” He breathed when they were on the other side of the truck and he straightened up the motorcycle’s path, “Did you see that?! I just did that! That was insane! I can’t believe I just did that!”

The other motorcycles must have taken different routes around the truck while three of them had waited for it to pass and were now gaining on them.

**_Can we stop for Hershey’s now?_ **

“What? Venom, we’re literally being chased!” He huffed, “In a minute!”

He took a sharp turn down an alley only to be confronted by three more, “This is gonna be tricky.” He muttered, trying to maintain his balance and stand at the same time. He moved closer to the wall of the nearest building and jumped, lifting the motorcycle with him, running along the wall. Once he was past them, he leapt off, planted himself on the motorcycle, and landed on the road again. The motorcycles all screeched to a stop to avoid colliding with each other.

“I think we lost them!” Peter exclaimed as they left the alley.

**_There are still two more!_ **

Peter noticed off to his left an incomplete ramp that was under construction. He sped up, breaking through the ‘road work ahead’ sign. “Road work ahead? Uh, yeah? I sure hope it does!” He laughed to himself.

Only one motorcycle followed him, but it wasn’t any of the previous two they had seen. It was Felicia.

**_There’s no more road!_ **

Peter glanced at the gap between the two areas of bridge determinedly, “I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna jump.” However, as soon as he sped up and sailed into the air, he realized they weren’t going to make it, “Oh sh-…! We’re not gonna make it!”

**_Yes, we are!_ **

Venom extended himself to reach the end of the unfinished highway. He pulled them up until the tires collided with the pavement. Peter burned rubber as he sped off again, faintly catching Felicia swearing his name before getting as far away as they could and stopping at a 7-Eleven for Hershey’s bars.


	11. Chapter 11

Sleep deprivation was beginning to get the better of Peter. After another all-night mission, he kept dozing off all throughout school and Ned constantly nudged him awake. Plus, after their run in with Felicia Hardy, as known as Black Cat, he was now stressed about having a psychopathic crime lord on his back. Not to mention, they hadn’t gotten the best information from her; she seemed she had lied about most of it because it was all contradictory to what they already knew. It almost felt like it was for nothing.

“Dude, what’s going on?” Ned asked between class again and Peter sighed. Now he had to deal with this.

“Ned, for the last time I’m fine! I couldn’t be better.”

“You didn’t even try to be convincing that time.” Ned continued, “And tell that to Ms. Warren; you practically stuck to ceiling when she dropped the textbook on your desk.”

“Look, I’m just really tired, ok? I’ve been doing a lot of, _you know_ , lately.”

“Yeah, I know, Stark Internship, and you’ve been tired doing that before, but this is different.” He stated concernedly, “Are you wearing AXE deodorant?”

“That’s all they had at the 7-Eleven.” He muttered.

“What are you talking about? Peter… come on, you’re going to have to tell me what’s really going on eventually.”

Peter stopped and turned to look Ned dead in the eyes, his expression pleading, “Ned, don’t you get it? I _can’t_. I just can’t right now. I’m sorry, maybe eventually I can, but…” He sighed, “I’m really sorry.” He left Ned standing in shock, disappearing into his next class and shaking his head in shame.

**_I know he means a lot to you._** Venom purred inside his head.

Peter nodded, sitting down and burying his head in his arms on his desk, “What are we going to do?” He whispered, “No matter what I do, someone I care about gets hurt; Ned, MJ, Aunt May, Mr. Stark, you. I don’t think I can take it anymore.”

**_Well, I’m touched you care about me. But you don’t have to worry, this will all be over soon._ **

He sniffled, “I don’t want you to think that’s what I want.”

**_It’s ok. We both know it is. And I miss Eddie._ **

“I want you to get to Eddie as safely as possible. And I want to be able to be as straightforward with my friends as possible.”

**_I thought you weren’t straight._ **

Peter gave a faint laugh and shook his head.

**_Was it something I said?_ **

“No, it was just funny.” He smiled.

**_You can talk to people about what you’re going through. We just need to be careful. And given how concerned your friends are, don’t tell them about me. But I can tell you need to talk to someone about what you’re going through._ **

“How should I do that?”

**_Metaphors? But I believe you should do it before you break. You can only take so much, and you should tell someone before it’s too late._ **

“You’d be surprised with how much I can take.” He sighed, “Metaphors, huh? I can do that.”

The bell rang and the last few kids who were always late trickled in as class began. He only had two more classes left and they trudged by, but yet Peter couldn’t recall a thing that happened in either one from the exhausted daze he was in. When the final bell finally rang, Peter went to his locker were Ned and MJ were already talking at theirs. Ned saw Peter approaching and turned away. MJ glanced between them, confused and Peter sighed, opening his locker and taking out his books.

“What’s going on with you two?” She asked.

“It’s nothing.” Peter replied.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s something.” Ned turned to MJ, “Hey MJ, don’t you think Peter’s been acting weird lately?”

“Weirder than usual?”

Peter paused to look at her, “MJ!”

“Yeah, definitely.” She replied to Ned.

“And don’t you think Peter should tell his friends what’s going on so they can help him?”

“Well…” She shifted uncomfortably, “I mean, he shouldn’t have to unless he wants too.”

“Thank you, _MJ_!” Peter beamed, glancing at Ned, “See?”

“No! That’s different then what you’re doing! You keep repeatedly telling me you’re fine and you are clearly the opposite of fine!” Ned shot back.

“Yeah, when you’re doing that you should at least tell _somebody_.” MJ agreed.

Peter was about to protest, then sighed, realizing that they and Venom were right, “Fine, I guess this has been going on for a long time, but it’s recently got about a thousand times worse. See, it’s just that-,”

“Hey Penis Parker!” Flash cut him off, sneering, “I meant to ask you, how come you look like shit today? I mean, could you not take a shower or something? I guess the Stark Internship doesn’t pay well. I always wondered since the man is stupid rich if he paid his interns, but I guess not.”

“Flash, go away.” Ned rolled his eyes.

“Look at that, your boyfriend is sticking up for you.” He smirked, “You know, I think I see what’s going on here, this is like some kind of weird threesome.”

**_I think we can both agree we’ve had enough of this guy._ **

Peter slammed his locker closed, making Flash jump, “You heard him.” He spoke low, “Get lost.”

“Woah chill out Parker. You’re about to get as freaky as weirdo girl.”

“How about we all think of a better time, like that time you slammed your hand in the door during third period.” MJ replied shortly to Flash.

“All of you guys need some mental help.”

This rest of the argument was beginning to get blurred. Peter was trying to calm himself down by breathing, but it wasn’t working anymore.

“You good there, Parker?” He faintly heard Flash mock.

Peter didn’t look up. Strange enough, he liked this.

“Alright then, bye losers.” Flash began to leave and turned to flick Peter, but Peter grabbed his arm before he could get close enough to his face. At first, Flash looked at him in shock, then laughed, “Oh, big mistake buddy.”

“That’s what your mom says to your dad every night!” MJ shouted and the remaining kids around them laughed.

This was it. He had had enough and was finally giving in as he slowly twisted Flash’s arm, “Don’t… ever touch me… again…” He lowered his voice with the help of Venom darkly.

“Wow. I bet you think you’re so ‘manly’ right now but we both now,” Flash winced before he could finish his insult, “Ow, hey, hey! Stop! Peter stop it you’re hurting me!”

MJ was the only one strong enough to pull Peter’s hand from Flash’s arm. Flash looked from his arm which Peter had left a mark on to him in horror, “You’re an actual psychopath!” He cried, pointing at him, “What is wrong with you?!”

It was pathetic how much of a baby Flash was about it. Peter was about to excitedly tell him off or hurt him again, but a quiet sort of feeling in the back of his head told him against it. Peter’s face fell, listening to it and coming back to his senses. His fists trembled by his sides as he looked around at everyone’s shocked faces, horrified with himself. He looked back to Flash who looked at him in a way Peter had never seen before, fearfully.

“I…” The words were caught in his throat, or maybe he just didn’t know what to say. He shook his head, pushed through the kids and raced out of the school. As he flew down the stairs, he heard MJ and Ned yelling at him to stop.

“Peter!” MJ cried, grasping his arm and he finally stopped, turning to her with tears in his eyes.

“MJ.” He spoke softly, “Please, let me go.”

She looked at him with an expression blended of hurt and concern. Then, she gently let go.

“Peter what was that?!” Ned gasped, “I’m sorry, but what the hell just happened in there?!”

“I don’t know.” Peter replied airily, on the verge of tears.

“Peter…”

“I know what you’re going to say to me! I need to tell you what’s wrong! Well, it doesn’t look like I have to do anything. Ned, I want you to listen to me. I’m going to tell you what you need to do. You need to get as far away from me as possible and don’t look back.” He gasped for breath when he was done. Ned looked at him with such hurt and concern he had never seen before.

“You’re right. I was going to say that.” He replied shortly as if he hadn’t heard the rest of it.

“Peter, I don’t know what’s happened to you. Why you suddenly think you can’t trust us with this. You used to tell us everything. I don’t want to keep watching my best friend and my boyfriend spiral into whatever this is. I thought it was what I had told you that made you freak out and I thought you just needed you space, but I’m not letting this go any farther.” MJ told him determinedly.

He felt his heart shatter at this, “MJ, trust me; nothing about this is your fault. I really care about you and nothing about that has changed. And I do trust you guys, but I can’t watch you get hurt.”

“Hello? Mysterio? Liz’s Dad?” Ned replied.

“This is different! This time it’s me!” He exclaimed.

Ned tilted his head at him, confused, “What does that mean?”

Peter sighed, shaking his head, “I can’t tell you-,”

“Peter, come on! Seriously! This isn’t funny! I’m really worried that something terrible is happening to you…”

“Then leave me alone!” Peter shouted, immediately regretting it. Ned had never looked so hurt at something anyone had ever said, and he hated that he was the one who said it.

“Alright.” Ned spoke quietly and nodded after the shock. Then he turned and left, not looking back.

“Ned…” Peter muttered, pained. But there was nothing he could do; he had brought this down.

He took off running in the opposite direction, ignoring MJ’s shouts and hastily wiped the tears, ducking into the nearest alley and with Venom’s help, transforming into Spider-Man. He perched on top of the building and simply waited for something; he wasn’t sure what, but something would happen eventually for him to take his mind off it all. Something that wouldn’t remind him of what he already knew: that it was too late, and he had already just broke.

So enough, he received a call.


	12. Chapter 12

This was the second time Peter was called in for an Avengers mission and that he didn’t just happen to stumble into it. And he couldn’t believe their luck that it happened to be, out of all places, San Francisco! There was apparently a new Avengers base over there in case they had to stay overnight, but the mission wasn’t supposed to take longer than twenty-four hours. He had already called to see if it was alright with Aunt May. Ant-Man and Wasp had found that there were these crazy bad guys using quantum vortex weapons to blow stuff up and whatever bad guys do. They had called in for backup and that’s where he, Tony, and Dr. Strange were coming in.

“Alright, according to the pattern we’ve tracked on them, this is their next target.” Hope, the Wasp, spoke over the com system, “Be on the lookup for anyone how looks like they might be carrying a quantum detonator.”

The team was scattered throughout the large hotel lobby. The floors were decorative and polished while an array of complicated light fixtures hung from the ceiling and there were two marble staircases, one on either side of the room.

Hope and Scott were both tiny; Hope was in the high corner of the room and Scott was on Peter’s shoulder. This was the second time Peter had worn a suit to blend in in the last twenty-four hours, but at least this time he wasn’t at a crime club. Tony and Stephen were also in the lobby with him, but they had split up so they didn’t look suspicious.

“So, you’re the Spider-Kid?” Scott began, “I totally remember you from that Thanos battle! Peter, right?”

“Yeah.” He grinned.

“You know, this is going to be a pretty awesome team up! We’re like, I don’t know, the Bug Squad! Wait, no that’s dumb.”

“I like it!” Peter beamed, “I mean, technically spiders are arachnids, but I still think it’s cool!”

He heard Tony sigh on his end of the com link, “Someone tell me how I tell them that’s the lamest thing in existence?”

“You know, I think Tony’s jealous I’m bonding with his kid.” Scott replied, “Hope, do you want to be part of the Bug Squad? Is that ok with you Kid? Can Hope join?”

Peter grinned, “Sure.”

Hope gave a long sigh, “Fine. But can we focus?”

“Yeah ok, sure, sure… hey, that guy looks kinda weird.” Scott pointed to a man who had just walked in.

“Yeah… I guess?” Peter tilted his head.

“He’s wearing socks with sandals in a fancy hotel! That’s just screaming weird!”

Stephen sighed, “Scott, just because someone-,”

“Wait Stephen, he’s grabbing something…” Hope cut him off, “I think this is our guy.”

“Ok Kid, you ready?”

“Yeah.” Peter replied, walking towards him. Then he pretended to trip over a footstool, grabbing the man’s shoulder.

“Sorry mate.” He apologized with a British accent, carefully letting a web from the web shooter on his wrist stick to him and continued off.

“What was with the accent?” Scott asked him.

He shrugged, “I don’t know, I thought British people were super polite so that’s what I went with.”

“I think you’re thinking of Canadians.”

“When I went to England over the summer everyone was super nice.”

“Well, I was just going to say I don’t think your whole accent thing was super convincing. But that’s ok!” He replied to seeing Peter’s hurt, and also confused expression, “You’re doing great! Let’s get this guy.”

When they were far enough away, Peter activated the taser on his web from his web shooters and the guy yelled in shock before sinking to the ground. As Tony and Peter approached him, about twenty more people in black suits filed in from the doors and stairways.

“Uh, Mr. Stark, who are these guys?”

“Oh, great he brought back up too.” Hope sighed, “We’ve got to get these people out of here.”

“On it.” Strange replied, ushering people out through his portals.

“Ok, Peter get the bomb out of his jacket.” Tony structed, grabbing the guy.

Peter reached in, but found nothing, “Mr. Stark, there’s nothing here.”

Just then all of the people who had come in to defend their guy surrounded them and reached into their black jackets and pulled out the quantum devices.

“Hope? There isn’t just one bomb guy!” Scott exclaimed.

“I can see that!” Hope replied, “We can’t let them activate them!”

“Kid, your sticky stuff might work as an insulator.” Scott suggested.

“I just did a thermal scan,” Tony began, “These are all decoys.”

“So, where’s the real one?” Scott asked in alarm.

Tony held up his repulsor blaster and turned to the crowd of bad guys, “Friendly tip: don’t expect to get great room service if you come in threatening to blow the place up.”

Two of the people holding decoy bombs glanced at one another and one shrugged. Peter’s spider sense went off just before a guy behind him shot first, but Hope had already appeared at her normal size, punching him in the face. Then all the fighting broke loose. Scott returned to his normal size as well and Peter and Tony’s Iron Man and Iron Spider suits grew over their other suits. Stephen reappeared through a portal and held out his arm as his cloak followed him out, swirling around him before settling on his shoulders.

“A few minutes from now, the quantum detonator went off and destroyed the West Coast, so I went back in time to fix it.” Stephen informed them.

“Oh…” Scott muttered nervously, “That’s not good.”

“Strange, where is it? It’s nowhere on my scan.” Tony asked him, blasting one of their attackers away.

Strange glanced at him nervously, but also knowingly, then looked away, “It’s upstairs. Second floor. Room 16.”

Tony looked just as confused as Peter, but Hope reappeared next to them at her normal height, “Alright then, let’s go get it.”

“As soon as the man with the bomb sees one of us, he blows the entire thing up. I don’t think even my portals would give us enough time to disarm him from the time he sees us. Hope and Scott, you would have to sneak in, take him out, and somehow bring Peter with you so he could use his web fluid as an insulator like you said.” Strange instructed.

“We can disarm him and hold him while you open a portal for Peter. Then he can use his webs.” Hope suggested.

Tony nodded, “That sounds like that could work.”

Peter had pretty much stopped listening by this point. He closed his eyes and could feel the intense pounding of his spider sense. There wasn’t any time. The bomb was going to go off anyways. He almost told the rest of the team, but they had just been taken over by a new wave of attackers.

**_We can do this alone. We must hurry if we’re going to stop him._ **

Peter nodded, sneaking away, leaping over the staircase and knocking the attackers off it with his iron spider legs from his suit. He also webbed them up as he hurried through, “Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen…” He muttered, racing through the hallway, searching for the room. When he finally found it, he let Venom grow around him and break down the door.

The man inside snapped towards them, holding his hand to the bomb but stopped in terror and began to tremble upon seeing him. His grey eyes widened in fear. He looked like he was middle-aged with salt and pepper hair and a weathered face. He wore all black like the rest of them, however, he didn’t have a jacket and the only weapon was the quantum detonator. He stepped back, breathing uneasy and gripping the bed for support.

“Wh-what the hell are you?!” He shrieked.

Peter and Venom stopped, Venom shifting to reveal himself and Peter leaving half his face and body covered.

**“We are Venom.”**

Darkness began to cloud the edges of his vision and the man screamed as they tore the quantum detonator from him and threw him viscously against the wall. As they approached him again, he managed to sputter from the pain and fear, pointing at the bomb, “It’s, it’s gonna… explode.”

Sure enough, the device was beeping in their hand. Panicked, Peter placed the bomb on the ground and began smothering it in as much web fluid that would come out of his shooters. As it began to beep faster, Venom fully covered Peter in a tight cocoon. The next thing Peter was aware of was a loud noise and the sensation of falling. It all went by in what felt like slow motion; Venom still held onto him, but as he fell, Peter was slowly revealed so he wouldn’t be seen. Peter took the opportunity to use his webs, attaching them to the four corners of the room and creating a ginormous web that caught everything that had fallen from the top.

Peter let out a sigh of relief, laying in his web as Venom fully retreated into him.

“That was super scary but also kinda awesome.” He breathed.

**_Yes, it was._** Venom agreed from inside his head.

“Peter!” He heard Tony calling him.

He sat up, moving to the edge of the webbing and slipping through, “Hey Mr. Stark!”

Tony turned to him looking a bit relieved, but also something else…

“Good job Kid.” Scott beamed, patting him on the back.

Stephen crossed his arms, “There’s a hole in the ceiling.”

“Well, I’m sorry for being encouraging.” Scott replied sarcastically, “And a few minutes ago you were telling us all of the West Coast was going to blow up, so I think the ceiling of a hotel isn’t nearly that bad compared to that.”

“How long does that take to dissolve?” Hope asked, staring at the webbing.

“Two hours.”

“And you make that yourself?”

He smiled, “Yeah.”

“That’s pretty impressive Kid.”

“Yeah, you know it’s impressive you didn’t get hurt doing that.” Tony interjected, pointing at Peter, “You didn’t stick to the plan. You didn’t think anybody was going to notice that you snuck off? I know you just did the whole solo thing in England, but when you’re on a team you need to listen to people, ok? Otherwise you’re jeopardizing the mission as well as you and your teammates and I know you’re better than that.” Tony’s stern argument was followed by an awkward silence from everyone.

“Well, I’m going to go get the person who set off the bomb from up there and… yeah. I’ll be back.” Strange trailed off uncomfortably pointing up at the web, then disappeared through a portal.

“I’m sorry.” Peter replied.

**_That was harsh. He doesn’t understand we did what we had to do, and I believe we did it very well! I don’t like this guy._ **

Tony drew in a long breath, “Apology accepted. But I don’t want to see you do anything reckless like that again, ok?”

“Yes sir.”

“Am I the only one who’s uncomfortable here?” Hope muttered and Scott nodded in agreement.

The opening of another portal sparked in the air and Strange carried out a petrified version of the man who had the bomb. He looked as if the life had been drained out of him, and Peter began to actually feel sorry for him. His eyes finally drifted to Peter and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Take me to jail, I don’t care just get me away from him!” He yelled, pointing at Peter, “He’s a hideous monster! He tried to bite my head off! Just a minute ago, he was nearly eight feet tall and had huge, sharp teeth and was like some sort of slimly black Hulk! He was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen!”

Peter frowned. He hadn’t tried to bite his head off. A few moments into between the sequence were blacked out but Venom wouldn’t have possibly made him do it… right?

Scott laughed nervously, “Ok, sure… Look, I know Peter can kick ass, but I don’t think-,”

“It’s him!” He cried, “He nearly killed me!”

**_Alright now that’s a bit over dramatic._ **

“He’s in shock.” Hope stated, “The police and the medics will handle this. Let’s get him outside.”

“I’m not in shock!” He exclaimed, now in hysterics, “That’s not a kid! He’s a monster! He can morph into this, this, alien creature!”

“I’m sure he can.” Hope replied both soothingly and sarcastically as she and Stephen, both holding one of his arms, lead him outside. Stephen looked over his shoulder one last time to shoot a glance at Peter who simply shrugged, trying his best to look confused.

“Ah, it’s ok Kid.” Scott pat him on the back, “Don’t let him get to you. He already seemed a little, you know…” He whistled making the ‘cuckoo’ hand gesture.

“Yeah, besides, I think everyone’s had enough excitement tonight.” Tony nodded to Peter, “Hey, call your Aunt. I think we’re gonna take off tomorrow. It’s pretty late and I would rather you stay at our Avengers base here for the night instead of dropping you off at an airport at four a.m. in the morning.”

Peter nodded. Scott grinned at them.

“Well, it was awesome working with you guys! I have my daughter with a sitter so I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you soon little bug bro!”

Peter and Scott high-fived and Tony let out a long, dramatic sigh before he left. When he was gone Tony turned to Peter.

“Hey, you did good tonight. You just need to watch yourself on missions. You’re a good kid, and I have pretty high expectations for you. And you deserve it; I’m not trying to be super harsh on you because I know my dad was on me and it didn’t always bring out the best in me, I’m just trying to steer you in the right direction, you know?”

Peter nodded shyly, “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, thank God. I mean, great! That’s great.” Tony smiled patting him on the back, “Come on Kid. Let’s go.”


	13. Chapter 13

MJ sat on the ceiling with her legs crossed while reading a book. Her long hair hung loosely, nearly touching her bed. A sudden knock on her window startled her, causing her to fall off the ceiling and onto her bed, dropping her book. She leapt up and approached the window, seeing nothing that could have caused the sound. It was pitch black, so she cautiously opened up the window to get a better look outside.

“Hey! Up here!” At first, MJ didn’t see anyone, but then a dark figure materialized, sticking to the wall. She gasped, nearly falling out the window before gripping the ledge. “Oh my gosh! Sorry!” He slid down a little and MJ could see he looked exactly like Spider-Man. Maybe not exactly, the colors of his suit were inverted, the primary color being black with a red spider in the middle. MJ squinted as her… she refused to call it ‘spider sense’ but for a lack of a better term, _that_ , went off.

“Woah.” She muttered, “You’re like me.”

He nodded, “Hi! I’m Miles and I’m Spider-Man… well, from another dimension at least.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ve gotta go around being so creepy, ‘ _hi I’m Miles and I’m from another dimension_ ’.” MJ turned to see another spider person on the other side of the window. Her suit was white and black, and she had a hood, the inside of which was pink.

Miles crossed his arms, “Fine _Gwen_. Do you want to introduce yourself to her?”

Gwen held out her hand, “Hey. I’m Spider-Woman. From another, another dimension.”

MJ nodded slowly, shaking her hand, “Hi. I’m MJ.”

“Ok cool, you don’t have a superhero name yet either.” MJ looked up and saw one more above the frame of her window. “Hi MJ! I’m Cindy.” She beamed, waving, “So, you’ve got spider powers too? Rad, rad…”

“How did you know that? What are all of you doing here?” She asked with a high edge of suspicion in her voice.

“Our spider senses brought us to you.” Gwen explained, “So that had to mean you were one of us.”

“Ah… you people call it spider sense too.” MJ sighed, “I thought that was just Peter being a dork.”

Miles gasped, “Peter Parker?”

MJ raised her brow, “Uh… yeah… why?”

“We’re actually trying to find him!” He paused, then continued a little less brightly then he had previously been, “But not really for a great reason… he’s in trouble.”

MJ sighed, shaking her head, “I know. He’s been acting weird lately.”

“Hmm… I bet his body has been taken over by an alien!” Cindy suggested. Gwen shook her and Cindy frowned, “What?”

“Did something happen?” Miles asked concernedly.

“I don’t know, he just… he hasn’t been himself lately.” She sighed, “He stormed off on us today and he hasn’t answered my calls or texts.”

“That’s… not good.” Cindy sighed, “Where could he have gone? Do we have any leads? Any ideas?”

“Peter Parker will be fine.” A voice behind them assured. MJ turned to see a tall red-headed woman in a red trench coat with bold red sunglasses standing in the center of her bedroom.

“Wait, who is it, I can’t see…” Cindy stuck her head through the window and gasped excitedly, “Hey! What’s up Madame Web?”

“Who are you and how did you get into my bedroom?” MJ asked, confused and slightly alarmed.

She gave a warm smile, “Hello MJ. It’s nice to finally meet you; our newest Spider-Woman. I’m Julia Carpenter. I’m Madame Web as well as the Spider-Woman of my universe. I’ve come from the Web of Life and Destiny.”

“I think I’m beginning to sense a lot of explaining, exposition, and monologuing with my spider sense.” MJ said sarcastically and turned to the others, opening the window all the way so they could easily crawl through, “You guys can come on in.”

“Woah! Those are sick!” Miles pointed to the drawings on wall, “You drew those?”

MJ nodded, grinning, “Yeah.”

“That’s so awesome! I have stuff like that all over my room too.”

“Madame Web, what are you doing here? Has something happened?” Gwen asked concernedly, pulling off her mask. She had cool blue grey eyes, half buzzed blonde hair, and really awesome piercings on her eyebrow and nose.

Julia shook her head and smiled, “Well, yes. Something is always happening. But this time, something has happened in our favor. Allow me to clear some things up. The multiverse has been on the verge of collapse since the occurrence of a being from this dimension named Thanos began altering reality. It tore this dimension apart from the inside; an effect that rippled across the multiverse.” She explained, “That is why, for the longest time, the future of this dimension has been unclear. It has been invisible in the Web of Life and Destiny.”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

Julia waved her hand in the air and MJ gasped as her room faded away and they were floating, surrounded by what looked like… webs. In each gap, an image of a different spider person was shown as they fought a villain or something heroic like that.

“The possible paths of every Spider-Man, Woman, or Hero in the multiverse.” She presented, “How I have found and connected to every being having been bit by a radioactive spider. But ever since Thanos, all I could see was static on the future of this dimension. I couldn’t reach Peter Parker, the Spider-Man of your dimension even if I tried.” She smiled, “But then, fate allowed for another. After another Spider-Woman entered the picture, the future looked brighter. There is hope for us to do the impossible: sew together the torn remains of the dimensions and set the future on a straight path.”

“How are we supposed to do that? I don’t think any of us even are straight!” Cindy joked and they all laughed except for Julia who sighed.

“The strangest pattern with all of the spider heroes: they either are teenagers or have the mental capacity of teenagers.” She muttered to herself before continuing, “I fear the Peter Parker of this dimension is still in grave danger, but since MJ has risen up, it might be enough to save all of the multiverse.”

“Alright! Saving the multiverse part two!” Miles exclaimed, high fiving Gwen as he floated over her.

“As for what we need to do now, I believe we have focused so much on finding Peter that he missed an even bigger clue.” Julia continued, “There is another being, well, two actually, that have been misplaced to this dimension in all the chaos. Eddie Brock and a symbiote named Venom. They come from the dimension without a spider hero.”

“Ugh, is this the multiverse theory that’s like the multiverse theory is true except in the dimension where it’s not?” Gwen asked.

Julia inhaled sharply, “Ok, next spider child that interrupts me is floating home. Anyways, anything that comes from that dimension is very hard for me to see, in fact, the only way I can truly see them is because they tie into the future. There is a grave threat that I can’t fully see what it is yet and the future is still twisted, dangerous, and uncertain, but I think if you work together, you can save reality as we know it.”

MJ raised her brow, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m a last resort. I have been in contact with the Stephen Strange of this universe and he is aware of the threat, but if things get really hairy, I’m the only one that can open the web and bring in more help.” She replied and twirled her wrist again, bringing them back to MJ’s room.

“So… now we’re just finding a different guy?” Cindy questioned.

“Precisely.”

“Ok, cool.”

“Alright, good luck.” Madame Web turned on her spot to leave.

“Wait!” MJ exclaimed before she disappeared, “You want me to work with these guys? I mean, I’ve only done, like, one mission. I’m not even in the same league as these guys and I don’t think I’m ready to help, you know, _save the multiverse_.”

“I saved the multiverse, like, two days after I got spider powers.” Miles shrugged.

Julia laughed and gave another warm smile, “Kid, anyone can wear the mask. It’s what you do that counts. Let’s see what you’re gonna do now.” The lights shifted around her and she disappeared. MJ blinked, thinking about what she had just said and came back to her senses when Cindy placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, I get it. I’m new at this too and it’s a little weird, but I think we can do this.” She smiled, then shrugged, “A suit would be nice though. Let’s see… I figured out I had this trick a while ago, let me see if I can do it again…” Cindy trailed off as she held her hands out around her and webbing flew from her fingertips, surrounding her body. MJ took and step back and soon enough, Cindy had sewn herself a complete suit.

“Dude! That was so cool!” Miles exclaimed.

Cindy wore a mainly black suit with a white webbing pattern at her chest and feet. A red spider appeared on her chest and her fingertips were red like Miles’s. She had a red half mask that covered the lower part of her face.

“Thanks!” She beamed, “It feels like silk. Hey! That should totally be my superhero name! Silk, the crime fighting spider! Or, you know, maybe just Silk.”

“Where did you come up with that design?” MJ asked curiously.

She shrugged, “Guess I had a lot of time to think about it. You see, this guy found out about my powers and basically locked me in a bunker for five years.”

“Oh my God.” MJ shuddered, “I’m so sorry.”

Cindy shrugged sadly, looking down at MJ’s bed, then gasped excitedly, “Bro, is this you?!” She exclaimed picking up her sketchbook that was open to the page she had been working on with her designs for a spider suit of her own.

“Yeah, and hey. Never take an artist’s sketchbook.” She smirked slyly, taking back the book.

Miles crossed his arms and nodded, “It’s considered disrespectful.”

Cindy’s face fell, “Oh, I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

MJ shrugged, “I’m messing with you. But seriously though, there’s some other really creepy, kind of disturbing stuff in there so I mostly did it for your own good. But also, thanks, you know, for liking my design.”

Cindy laughed, “No problem. Hold on a sec.” She held out her hands and let her webbing surround MJ.

“Woah, hey! What are you…?” MJ trailed off as she stopped, and then looked down. She was wearing the suit from her design. It looked like the first one Tony made Peter but a lighter shade of red and white instead of red and blue. The spider on her chest was longer in shape and she gasped.

“Woah.” She breathed, glancing up at Cindy, grinning, “This is crazy.”

She nodded, tilting her head, “Yeah, but it’s missing something. You mask. I don’t think I can make the lenses with webbing.”

MJ smirked, “Well, I actually had that part down.” She pulled up the drawer on her nightstand and pulled out the red, superhero-looking eye mask with lenses she had made yesterday and put it on, “How do I look?”

Miles gave a thumbs up, “Epic.”

“You should go by Spinneret.” Cindy suggested, “I bet ya no other spider person’s thought of that.”

MJ considered it, “You know, I kinda like that.”

Gwen nodded, “So, you’re with us then?”

She smiled, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Just then, Gwen leapt out the window, Miles and Cindy following her.

“Oh! We’re leaving now. Like, right now!” MJ realized, grabbing her homemade web shooters, “Alright then. Jeez, wonder when you guys sleep…”


	14. Chapter 14

It was nearly three a.m. when Peter was able to sneak out again. This time from the Avengers compound. But he and Venom had waited so long for this moment, they couldn’t wait any longer. Venom had formed into the symbiote suit around Peter, both taking part in racing to the exact spot of the L.I.F.E. foundation. Sometimes when his webs weren’t fast enough, Venom stretched out and pulled them in the direction. Peter didn’t have to ask him where it was because he could feel it. They were so close. They had reached a forest and tore through the trees, chill wind blowing past his face. Peter excitedly climbed to the top of the large, tall pine tree at the edge of the forest, gripping the top anxiously and leaning out to see…

…An empty clearing. A completely empty clearing. No sigh of the construction of any kind of major science center anywhere to be seen.

“Wh-what?” Peter stammered in shock, “No… no, no, no!” He cried, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Venom was strangely quiet through all on this. Peter slowly slid down the tree and made his way to the middle of the clearing, sinking to his knees in the middle of the grass.

**_It’s supposed to be here._** Venom finally said.

Peter sighed, shaking his head sadly. Venom’s inky black head formed in front of Peter’s and spoke to him.

**“Black Cat said she wasn’t sure this place existed. Maybe she was right. I don’t know how, but something here doesn’t add up. It’s like you and I are from different worlds that are different… but also the same. Strange enough, I believe I always knew this. Events that happened to you and events that happened to me… they don’t align. I think here… me, Eddie, L.I.F.E…. they don’t exist.”**

“I don’t know…” Peter replied, “I just don’t know anymore…” He finally pounded his fist to the ground in frustration, “What are we going to do now?! This was it! This was our big lead! We’re out of leads! We’ve lost Fury, Eddie, and there’s going to be an invasion of symbiotes!” He lowered his head, letting out a shaky breath. He slowly looked up at Venom again, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry Eddie trusted me to help you. And I’m sorry I tried to get you back to him… but couldn’t.”

It was a minute before he responded, **“I’m sorry that there is so much pressure on you. I don’t think you should continue to try so hard to be so good. There’s no use in letting pressure build on you unless you turn around and bite it back.”**

Peter considered this for a moment, “Did you have me almost bite that guy’s head off back there?” He asked quietly.

**“I thought he deserved it. And I’m getting hungry again.”**

He looked at Venom again, now slightly horrified, “I thought we agreed no doing that!”

**“The way I see it, we can do whatever we want.”**

“But I don’t want to do that.”

**“You are so naïve. Let go. You don’t have to keep holding back, you’re free.”**

Peter stared at him determinedly, “It’s just occurred to me that you’re confusing having a moral compass with being free. And lately, I’ve been doing the same thing.” He felt confident with what he was saying, but he felt like they were going backwards because now he was fighting his control again rather than working with him. But in his heart, he felt he had to, or he was going to lose himself. However, it felt like they were back to the beginning because now he was a new kind of scared of Venom all over again.

**“Stop with the being scared thing! I don’t hurt my hosts; I hurt those we hate. Fine, you want to be the hero? Let me show you how we can stop the bad guys. _My_ way.”**

Complete blackout.

* * *

Peter had been able to piece together that they had found a street gang. And that they had taken care of them. Correction, Venom murdered them. Through Peter. Peter murdered them. He felt like he had been drenched in blood that for once wasn’t his own and it soaked through his suit. He tried to re-comprehend it about a thousand times and he had felt so much shock, pain, disgust, and fear that he had become numb to it all and the thoughts just bounced around in his head. The gang had robbed something, he wasn’t even sure what; it was all a blur. He could only remember what he desperately wanted to forget. Venom had stopped them, but not in any way Peter would’ve ever in a million years been comfortable with. But it hadn’t really mattered because Venom had been in entire control.

Peter had hated the experience. What he had done was terrible and he let himself do it. The fear had morphed into himself and now it was part of him. He thought he was scared of Venom, but now that he felt just as responsible, he was scared of what he was becoming and scared there was no way he could stop it.

So, he ran. He couldn’t outrun himself as Peter Parker or as Spider-Man but nevertheless he ran to the Avengers compound. He pushed the window open with his foot and crawled inside his room. His eyes adjusted to the pitch-black inside. His head was in a complete daze. He didn’t seem to have any say in what his body did; it just did, like he was going through the motions he didn’t remember ever doing before. Overall, he felt a sort of strange numbness spread throughout his body.

**_Oh, that was fun, wasn’t it?_** Venom had a new sickening sweetness to his deep voice that was pounding voice in Peter’s head.

Peter shook his head. He felt sick. He wanted to throw up.

**_Well, that’s unfortunate. We got the job done, did we not?_ **

“We… hurt people. Really hurt them. You made me kill them…” Peter trailed off; his voice reduced to a weak, raspy whisper.

Images of the mangled corpses flooded his mind. He doubled over and threw up in the trash can next to the next in the room; silent tears streamed down his face.

**_I told you that you are too innocent, too naive. People are going to die, especially when they stand in our way._ **

The sudden flick of the lamp on the nightstand nearly set Peter’s body into a full-on shock, “Who are you talking to, Kid?” Tony Stark sat on the edge of his bed; his legs crossed.

“Mr. Stark…” Peter choked, attempting to stand.

“God, you better not have gotten any of that on the suit.”

**_Why do you adore this man?_** Venom hissed, **_He’s a jerk. You’re a puppy to him, following its master._**

Peter shrugged Venom off, knowing he was searching through his memories again, “Why are you here?”

Tony raised his brow, “It’s four a.m. I’m the one asking the questions here.”

He could almost feel a sense of panic rising in Venom, **_Tell him anything, and we’re screwed._**

“I, uh…” Peter began, unsure of what to lead with, “Emergency S.H.I.E.L.D. thing. Very important.” At least it wasn’t entirely a lie since they were trying to find Nick Fury.

He looked unconvinced, “Uh huh. You wanna try again? If it was ‘so important’, Carol or I would have known about it.”

“Well, you didn’t know about Europe, just saying.”

“Watch the tone, young man.” Tony warned, standing up.

Venom let out a disgusted grunt, **_Who does this guy think he is? He’s not your father. Your parents died in a plane crash when you were too young to clearly remember them. Then May and Ben Parker took custody of you. Ben Parker was like a father to you, wasn’t he? And where is he now?_**

“Shut up!” Peter cried at Venom, gripping the sides of his head, then looked up at Tony through pain and streaming tears, “You’re not my dad.”

At first, Tony wore a look of extreme pain that morphed into anger, “Alright. That’s it. You’re grounded. No more Spider-Man until further notice.”

“No!” Peter and Venom exclaimed at the same time.

**_I almost forgot how irritating adolescence was! So restricting! This will interfere with us finding Eddie. I say we bite his head off and drag his body over to the corner over there._ **

“No!” Peter screamed, jolting backwards, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Leave him alone! Don’t you dare! If you so much as lay a slimy finger on him, I swear I’ll-,”

“Kid, who are you talking to?” Tony questioned him with sudden concern, taking a step towards him.

“No!” Peter backed into the wall, holding his hand out in front of him, “Don’t touch me! Stay away from me! I don’t want to hurt you! He said he was gonna bite your head off!” Peter collapsed to the ground, tears poured down his face as his body violently shook, “I’m a monster… I’m a monster.”

“Peter, what’s going on?” He held out his hand, “Let me help you.”

Peter blinked at him before shaking his head, “I might hurt you. And I can’t tell you what’s going on, I just _can’t_. Maybe if you killed me that would help. That might help everybody…”

“Kid, I can’t do that.” When Peter looked up again, he noticed that small, silent tears were rolling down Tony’s cheeks, “And you can’t say things like that! I’ve seen this before, with me with Bruce and I _can’t_ see it with you too.” He looked at Peter with a desperate look in his eyes, “What’s going on?”

Peter buried his face in his knees, “It’s, it’s complicated.” He replied shakily.

It was a moment before he replied, “I know.” He sighed, “I know… I’m not your dad. I’m never gonna be.”

Peter closed his eyes, “Oh, Mr. Stark, whatever I said, I didn’t mean that, I-,”

“Shh, Kid, let me finish.” Tony continued, “I wanna be there for you. I wanna be what I wish my dad was like for you. And I don’t wanna see you turn out like me; pushing everyone out and trying to handle whatever it is that’s going on by yourself.”

He leaned his head back, “Mr. Stark, I’m fine.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you are not fine, and you know it. You just asked me to kill you, and you must very damn well know that I can’t lose you again!” Tony sighed, placing his hand to his forehead. It was a moment before he held out his hand again, “You know you can trust me, right? Whatever it is, I can help you.”

Peter thought hard against it, but in the end, he couldn’t stop his heart from wanting to make the right decision. Finally, tired of fighting and holding back, he hesitantly took Tony’s hand.

He pulled Peter up to his feet. He fell into Tony’s open arms and he held him. Peter hugged him back.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.” He whispered.

He ruffled Peter’s hair, “Yeah. Now, what the hell happened to you?”

Peter wiped his arm across his face and sat down on the edge of his bed, Tony sat next to him, “It’s a mess.”

**_Don’t you dare!_** Venom hissed, but Peter took a deep breath and finally blocked him out…

…And he told him. He told Tony everything. It seemed like it took hours to get through it all, but Tony listened patiently the entire time. Once he started, he couldn’t stop and everything that he had been holding back was flowing out and it felt great. He told him about Quentin and the invasion and Fury and Eddie and even Felicia Hardy. He had laughed when he had told him about learning to ride a motorcycle. It felt like all the weight and pressure that had been building up on him was being lifted.

“Hey.” Tony put his arm around his shoulder, “We’ll figure this out. Not the first alien invasion on this planet. He, um… _Venom_ … he talks to you, doesn’t he?”

Peter sniffled, then nodded.

“Is that how he, you know, makes you do stuff that you don’t want to?”

He shrugged, “He just, takes over. Sometimes I don’t even realize he does it until it escalates into something extreme…” He trailed off thinking about earlier tonight.

“Alright, Kid.” He began, standing up, “We’re gonna get him out of you.”

Peter shook his head, “I can’t. I promised I’d get him back to Eddie.”

“And you still can, but he’s not going to be _living_ inside of you anymore.”

“He’ll die if he doesn’t have a host. And it has to be a certain person, it’s like an organ transplant.” He swore part of this was coming from Venom’s memory.

“Then we’ll have someone else doing it for a while. You’re taking a break from this.”

“Mr. Stark, I’m really fine.”

“Say that one more time and I’m grounding you.”

Peter stopped, thinking of how Ned and Tony would have really gotten along in this moment.

Tony sighed and continued, “Look, you’re strong, ok? You’ve proven that far beyond anything. And I know that makes you feel like you can handle everything and if it becomes too much then you just have to try harder. I do that all the time. You’ve handled this thing better than I think anyone could have, but now you need to accept the help you’re getting. I know you’ve got a super big heart and you want to get this alien thing back to a random dude in a grey hoodie and I’m, surprisingly, not going to stop you, but it doesn’t all have to be on you, right? This is kind of tying in with the teamwork lesson from earlier.”

Peter laughed lightly, shaking his head, “Yeah, I get it.” He looked up at Tony, “Ok. I’m really stressing out about this and I don’t know how I’m going to do it and I need you to help me figure it out.”

Tony gave a small smile, “I’ve got you Kid.” He patted him on the shoulder, “I’m going to go wake up Bruce, I’m pretty sure he left a note on the fridge, and we’re going to figure out what to do.”

* * *

Despite having the sleep pattern of a moody teenager, Bruce was wide awake at the excitement of something he hadn’t studied yet. Peter was also extremely excited too upon meeting Bruce.

“You’re-,”

Bruce sighed, figuring what he was going to say, “I know, Hulk…”

“Doctor Bruce Banner!” He interjected, “Dude, you’re like, one of the coolest scientists ever! There’s a picture of you in my science class!”

Tony smiled as Bruce looked extremely touched with a flattered, “Oh,” and Peter proceed to ask about a million questions. Meanwhile, he set up a neural scan and the glass chamber for Peter in the lab.

“Alright Kid… you ready?”

Peter sighed and nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”

“Ok, just lay on that MRI table over there. I’m gonna do a quick neural scan. Don’t worry, it’ll be completely silent.”

Peter laid on the table and the glass door to the chamber slid shut. Bruce lightly tapped Tony on the shoulder as he began the scan, “You… seem weirdly calm about all of this. I mean, we all you’ve got this ‘fatherly’ relationship with the kid-,”

Tony in took a sharp breath, “For the last time! Very strict mentor-mentee!”

“Fine. Whatever you want to call it. But you know… this isn’t anything we’ve ever seen more. This is like a sci fi movie; we’re talking about an alien taking over his body! You not freaking out as much as I thought you would be which is good and I’m actually super impressed.”

Tony laughed nervously, “Oh no I’m petrified by all of this. But you see, if I’m freaking out, then he’s freaking out and if he’s freaking out, then I’m freaking out. It’s a very vicious cycle of freaking out so I’m trying to keep it together.” He sighed, “And you didn’t see him when he told me about all of this. He’s been through a lot and he’s really hard on himself. And I feel like after recruiting him for that whole Civil War thing… I think that really messed with him and he would’ve been a lot better off if I hadn’t gotten involved with him.”

Bruce gave a sad smile and continued gently, “Yeah, but he looks up to you Tony. And I think he’s grown a lot, especially for the better, in the last few years from what you’ve told me. And he’s a superhero now; he wasn’t ever going to be protected from something like this before you came along. But he’s learning how to stand up by himself but also trust and ask for help. And, yeah, a lot of the danger is coming from the superhero life and the Avengers profile. But all the good parts… that’s coming from you too.”

Tony smiled, “Thanks Bruce.” Then he turned his attention to the neural scan, “Cool. Alright, looks good. We got it. You’re good Pete.”

But when he looked up at him as he stood up in the chamber, he did not look good. He looked deathly pale and terrified, staring off strangely at the ground.

“What’s the matter with him?” Bruce asked concernedly.

“I don’t know.” Tony hurried to the chamber door where Peter looked up at him.

“Something’s wrong with me.” He mumbled softly, before closing his eyes.

“Peter?”

Tony jumped as something inky black shot from Peter, looking like it was trying to consume him.

“Oh my God! Is that the alien?!” Bruce exclaimed from the scanner.

“No, that’s his aunt.” He shouted back sarcastically, “Yes Bruce! That’s the alien!”

“Oh my God!”

Peter screamed on the inside, wrestling in an inky black mess. Tony raced to the door, trying to pull it open, “Bruce! Open the door!”

“I can’t! It’s not working!”

“We don’t have time for not working, open the door!” Tony pounded on the door, watching helplessly as Peter thrashed inside. He stopped as Peter reached the door, his panicked eyes meeting his. He managed to press his hand against the glass and Tony put his on the same spot on the other side of the glass.

“Fight him Kid.” He urged, “Come on, just a few more minutes.”

Tears swelled in his eyes and he looked like he was about to say something, but his mouth was covered with inky black slime as the symbiote stretched itself back, pulling Peter back against the wall.

“Peter!” Tony winced as a loud, high pitched alarm sound blared through the room. He looked over at Bruce who ran up next to him.

“You said the symbiotes were sensitive loud noises!” Bruce shouted over the alarm.

Tony looked over at Peter to see the symbiote fraying from him, but he too looked in pain, “It’s hurting him!”

“I’m trying to get it out of him!” Bruce yelled, twitching as his veins turned green. Tony took a step back as he watched Bruce turn into the Hulk. He roared, breaking through the glass. Tony rushed in after him, gasping as Hulk grabbed Peter and began ripping Venom from him, “Hey, hey! Bad Bruce! Put him down!”

Venom hissed and shrieked, threatening to engulf the Hulk. Hulk roared as loud as he could back at him, but Tony could see that Venom would be able to easily take him over; and that couldn’t happen.

“Hey! This isn’t helping us now!” Tony exclaimed, grabbing for Peter in the mess. The symbiote immediately retreated back to him, as much as it could considering it looked like it was about to be torn apart. Peter turned on Tony, shoving the back of his head into the ground and holding him down, choking him with a slimly, black hand leaving Tony gasping for air.

“Hey!” Bruce yelled, somehow managing to turn back into Bruce during the chaos, and proceeded to smack the symbiote with a broom, “Possess this instead!”

“Mr. Bruce… it has to be alive…” Peter replied, his voice strained.

“I know that!” Bruce huffed, “Try to let Tony go!”

“I… can’t!” Peter cried, trying to use his free hand to pull his other from Tony’s neck.

“Fine! Sorry about this.” He morphed into Hulk again, tearing Peter off of Tony. And tossing him against the wall.

“Puny Spider.” Hulk growled, “Stupid alien!”

“Hey, hey! Stand down!” Tony instructed as the symbiote finally removed itself from Peter and he collapsed to the ground. The symbiote then slithered up to the air vent, “Quick! We can’t let it get away!”

Hulk reached up, grabbing it, but it squirmed and squeezed through his hands. He flailed his arm, trying to get it off.

“Hold on! I’m getting a containment capsule!” Tony yelled, racing to his nearest desk, grabbing the pod and rushing back as Hulk turned back into Bruce. As it began to slither away, Bruce began to smack it with the broom again.

“Hey! Chill with the broom!” He exclaimed, trapping the symbiote in the pod and sealing it closed. He and Bruce both let out a long sigh of relief. Tony slumped against the wall, the capsule loosely in his hand, and slid down next to an unconscious Peter. The alarm still blared loudly, and Tony watched Bruce’s eyes flicker a shade of green before Hulk emerged and crushed the speaker system, killing the sound.

Tony shook his head, “You know, that’s fine… I honestly don’t have the mental capacity to care anymore.” He turned and gently shook Peter to wake him up, “Hey, hey. Come on Kid. Wake up.”

Peter remained out cold and Tony checked his still-beating pulse, just to make sure. Bruce finally walked up to him and sighed, “Yeah… sorry about that.” He began sheepishly.

“Well, I am the guy who pays for everything apparently so sure. Hulk out, break the brand-new compound we literally just got, it’s all good.” Tony replied sarcastically, “I would say this is why we can’t have nice things, but we’re scientists, I mean, what are we going to do?”

“His neural scans are fascinating. The symbiote is acting as some sort of parasite.” Bruce changed the subject and glanced at Peter, “Is he ok?”

Tony gave a hollow laugh, “I mean, probably not. God, that thing was in him for almost a week.”

Bruce nodded in contemplation, “Yeah… hey, if he’s having any sort of post-traumatic stress, call me. I may not be that kind of doctor, but a lot of what you two were describing either sounds like something I’ve gone through with anxiety or with the Hulk, so I might be able to help him, if he needs that.”

He smiled, “I think he would like that. But I think you should tell him yourself when he wakes up.” Tony picked up Peter in his arms and handed Bruce the symbiote, “We’ve gotta keep that thing safe.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I was here five minutes ago.” He paused, then continued more seriously, “Hey, you say that thing; it was attracted to me and Hulk, maybe…”

“And I’m going to ask you to stop thinking that.” Tony shook his head, “I’m not letting you take on two inner demons.”

“Yeah… I guess one’s enough.” He replied humorously.

“Hey, do you think it’s a good idea if I take him home now?” Tony asked him.

“Um… sure? I guess so. It’s almost six in the morning anyways.”

“Are you staying here?”

Bruce nodded, waving the capsule holding the symbiote, “I’ve got a project to keep me busy now.”

“Yeah, and I’m coming back!”

He smirked, “I know, but I’m getting a head start.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Fine. Hey, but between you and me…” He trailed off and sighed.

Bruce looked at him concernedly, “What is it?”

“Bruce, I have a really bad feeling something’s coming. Something none of us are ready for.” He replied seriously, “Fury’s missing, not kidnapped anymore like we thought because he was apparently let go, and Quentin’s rising up again. And this whole symbiote issue… I’m trying to be overly paranoid, but what if we’re expecting a full-scale invasion?”

Bruce shrugged, “You say that, but I feel like we’ve all kind of got this down to a science: something bad happens, we fight and if we win, awesome! Shawarma! But if we lose, then we avenge.”

Tony smiled sadly, “Yeah, you’re right… but lately I’ve got some stuff I can’t risk putting on the line to at best ‘avenge’.” He readjusted Peter in his arms, “You know that. Pepper, Morgan-,”

“Oh! She has a name now!” Bruce beamed.

He laughed lightly, “Yeah… but you get it, right?”

“No, I understand.” He replied compassionately.

“Thanks Bruce.” He began to leave the lab with Peter, but as he reached the door, he turned back one more time, smirking, “So… how’s it going with you and Thor?”

Bruce turned a bright shade of red, immediately turning his full attention to the symbiote, “Do you have a plane to catch or something?”

“It’s a private plane. It’s waiting for me.” He laughed, turning away, “Never mind, you can tell me all about your date when I get back.”

“Can hardly wait.” He muttered sarcastically.

Tony smiled, letting the lab door slide shut behind him. Peter didn’t wake for the majority of the flight until he finally noticed him stir in his seat. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at Tony and gave a weak smile, “Hey Mr. Stark.”

Tony grinned back across from him after having previously been looking out the window, “Hey Kid. I’m taking you back home.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you.” He paused, furrowing his brow as if trying to remember something, “Is Venom ok?”

He was taken a little aback but the concern in something that had tried to kill him, but this was Peter he was talking too, “Yeah, he’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you.”

Peter smiled, “I’m ok.” And it was the first time that he had said it that Tony had truly believed him.

He nodded, smiling back, “Good.”

Peter’s gaze drifted to the window, and soon enough, he fell asleep. Tony let him sleep the rest of the way back until they reached the airport; he deserved it.


	15. Chapter 15

“…And, yeah…” Peter sighed, wiping tears from his eyes after explaining everything that had happened to his aunt, “That’s pretty much it.”

Aunt May blinked back at him taking in what he had just said and nodded slowly, “Ok, definitely not what I thought you were going to say.”

“I’m really sorry, I just didn’t feel like I could tell anybody, and then I thought you might make me quit being Spider-Man.”

She sighed, but then smiled sadly, “Oh Peter, I don’t think I could stop you even if I thought that was a good idea. The way you light up when you talk about it; there’s a part of you that I can see Ben in and I’m sure he’s looking down, so proud of you. I always told you to chase after whatever you wanted to do, and of course I’m never going to stop worrying, but if this is what you want to be… I’m not going to take that away from you. But even though it gets crazy, you still need to trust people. That’s if you’re going to be Spider-Man and Peter.”

“I know.” He smiled, “Thanks Aunt May.”

She stood up and hugged him, gently running her fingers through his hair, “Alright, I decided to start with the motherly wisdom so now you’re getting the crazy aunt.” She then took off her glasses and set them on their kitchen table, “You mean to tell me you’ve had an alien in your body for the past week and didn’t say anything?!”

Peter tried not to laugh at his aunt’s sudden mood change and hesitated, “Well… yeah. I know, it sounds kinda bad.”

“I hope you realize how complete insane that sounds!” She huffed, “And that was what was with the sneaking out… sometimes, I don’t know… sometimes I really wish you could’ve had a normal life.”

He sighed, nodding sadly, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me! I’m the one who’s worried about you! You’re sixteen and this is way too much than any normal high schooler should have to handle. This is why I was hard on you when you first told me, and why I’m being hard on you now, and why I’m always hard on you about talking to people so you don’t hurt yourself.”

Peter looked her in the eyes, and nodded, tearing up again.

May laughed, wiping her eyes, “Don’t you do that. Because if you start crying again, then I’m gonna start crying, and I don’t want to be crying for the rest of the weekend.”

Peter hugged her again and smiled as he felt her hug him back. After what seemed like forever, but he truly didn’t mind, they let go.

He smiled at her, then his face fell as he remembered.

“What is it?” She asked him concernedly.

“Ned and MJ are never gonna forgive me.” He realized, “And honestly, I would probably feel better if they didn’t.” He groaned, burying his face in his hands, “I was a complete and total jerk to them!”

“Hey.” May lovingly put her hand on his shoulder, “You know you wouldn’t feel better if that happened. And besides, I don’t know much about aliens or whatever but that wasn’t entirely you, was it?”

Peter shook his head, “Yes, but no… I don’t know. It’s complicated. I would have never said anything like that to them or shut them down like that, but I still did, and I think he was what brought that out in me.”

“Well, I think you should talk to them.” She smiled, “Ned seems like he would know more about this than I do, and he’s your best friend. You’ll make it up to him. And I haven’t known MJ for nearly as long, but she seems like she would listen to what you have to say.”

Peter nodded, giving a small smile, “Thank you.” He replied softly.

She ruffled his hair again, “Alright, well, you better get going.”

He gasped, “Right!” He raced to his room and grabbed his web shooters as well as the red and black suit he had made himself. As he opened up the window, he sighed, and turned back to go find Aunt May still in the kitchen, checking email.

She looked up at him, “What is it?”

He sighed, “I don’t know, I just… are you sure?”

“About what?”

“I mean, I just got back, and I don’t want you to think I’m leaving you again.”

She smirked, “You’re not leaving me. But you better hurry back because they’re rerunning the original Star Wars trilogy tonight. Tell Ned I said hi.”

Peter gave a relived smile, “Thank you so much. You’re the best!” And swung off to Ned’s apartment.

* * *

Tony landed back in the San Francisco Avengers compound at 11:00 a.m. and immediately sensed something was wrong. S.H.E.I.L.D. copters were landed all around the compound’s landing bay and a group of agents surrounded him as exited the plane.

“Sir, this facility is under lockdown.” One of the agents stated, holding out his hand to stop him.

Tony smirked, “Cute.” He replied, strutting past, “Let Agent Hill know I’m here.”

Once inside, he saw the compound was swarmed by an army of agents, searching for something and only increasing his unsettling feeling.

“Tony.”

He turned to see Maria Hill approaching him, an incredibly serious look painted across her face. He gestured to the great number of agents in the compound annoyedly, “What gives?”

“The safety of this facility has been compromised.” She gave a dry laugh, “You were housing a highly unstable, dangerous alien species without notifying any sort of authorities?” It was more of an accusation than a question.

“For a few hours at most.” He crossed his arms, “Not sure we had ‘alerting authorities’ on the agenda while trying not to get devoured by it.”

“You know we can’t take any chances with the Sokovia Accords in effect.” She rolled her eyes, “And besides, it’s gone now.”

Tony’s face fell, “What?”

“The symbiote. I’ve issued a full perimeter sweep. Banner called us in, and he’s in shock right now.”

“I need to talk to him.” He interjected.

“What part of ‘he’s in shock right now’ did you not understand?”

“It’s important. Hill, if you know anything about this whole symbiote issue, then you know how serious this is.”

“Oh, I know about it alright.” She muttered in disbelief at him as she walked past, but then paused, turning to look at him one more time, “Probably more than you realize.”

Tony watched her leave, confused at first, but then shook his head. He was going to find Bruce. It wasn’t all that hard either, they had him with a shock blanket right outside the lab which looked even more wrecked than before.

The S.H.E.I.L.D. looked up at him annoyed, about to say something but Tony cut him off, “I need to talk to him.”

Bruce perked up at the sound of his voice, “Tony!” He exclaimed, “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, it all happened so fast…”

Tony turned to the agent, “Hey, do you mind?”

“Excuse me?” He laughed sarcastically, “But Dr. Banner is in shock and I’m to watch over him.”

“I’m fine, really.” Bruce replied, taking off the shock blanket, “Please, I actually really need to talk to him.”

The agent sighed, before turning away, “Fine, a few minutes.”

Bruce looked at Tony and shook his head, “I’m so sorry. I took the symbiote out to examine it, and it jumped out and… I don’t remember much after that, but it completely took over and then I was face down in the landing bay...”

“The plane.” Tony realized suddenly, “That thing must’ve hitched a ride on the plane.” He gasped, “It wants Peter. What if it’s-,”

“Tony, listen to me!” Bruce exclaimed, gripping his jacket, “We need you here. I called S.H.E.I.L.D. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t give anything away about the kid I just said you found the thing in the field.”

“Why-?”

“They know a lot more than they’re letting on.” He replied, “You’ve got to figure it out.”

Tony sighed, “Yeah, ok. If they do, then they might know how to get that thing away from Peter.” He placed his hand on Bruce’s shoulder, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Alright, good.” He clapped him on the shoulder, “Because your nanny cop is back.” He tilted his head toward the returning S.H.E.I.L.D. agent.

Bruce sighed and nodded, “Good luck.”

Tony turned, brushing past the agent and heading out to find Maria Hill. He finally found her in their briefing room, standing at the window and checking a device.

“Agent Hill.”

She turned, immediately putting the device in her jacket pocket, “What?”

“I think you’ve still got a bit of explaining to do.”

She smirked, “Really? And I bet you think that means to you?”

“Look, I get you guys are a ‘super top-secret spy’ organization and that you’ve lost Fury so you’re in charge now. But there’s a lot of overlapping territory in between what you’re doing and the-,”

“I’ll let you know when this concerns the Avengers.” She interrupted him.

“See that’s the thing, it already has.” He replied matter-of-factly, “Do you want to talk about the symbiotes? I don’t know if you’ve seen firsthand what these things can do, but if more of these things make their way here…”

“Again, I’ve got it under control. You seem to know a lot about this ‘firsthand’ sort of thing. And you’ve already proven you know a little more than you should from simply observing one for a few hours. Plus, the excuse of ‘finding it in the field’ is pretty vague. Who had the symbiote Tony? Who brought it to you?” Maria questioned.

When Tony didn’t answer, she gave a satisfied smirk, but he immediately countered her, “That last time, you said I. You said, ‘I’ve got this under control’. You’ve had to say that a lot recently, haven’t you? People questioning your leadership. You’re a good leader Hill, and in any normal circumstance with you being second in command, of course there’s mutinies and whatnot, but to constantly have everyone questioning your leadership, you must still have another leader.” He paused, looking her dead in the eye, “So maybe Fury’s not really missing.”


	16. Chapter 16

Peter swung as fast as he could to Ned’s apartment and finally flew through the air, landing on the wall right above his window. He knocked on the glass and a moment later, the window slid open. He sighed, relieved, and stepped inside, taking off his mask.

“Ned! Oh my God, I’m so sorry about everything I really need to talk to you…” Peter trailed off as his spider sense pounded in his head and Ned was nowhere to be found.

He heard a muffled yell from above him and looked up startled, and saw Venom on the ceiling, gripping a frightened, wide eyed Ned. He held a slimy black hand over his mouth.

“Ned!” Peter cried and Venom dropped down in front of him, still gripping Ned in one hand. A look of fury flashed over his face, “Let him go.” Peter spoke angrily.

“Peter Parker…” He growled, smiling wicked and flashing all of his teeth. Peter froze. If Venom had a new host, then it meant this person new about him too. “Peter Parker.” He growled again.

“Stop that!” He yelled, “Put Ned down!”

“Hey Penis Parker.”

He gasped as Venom’s face shifted to reveal Flash’s, “Flash?! What the hell?!”

“You know, I always thought Spider-Man was a super rad dude, which was why I had no idea he was you.” He smirked, “The big guy told me.”

“Flash! Venom is incredibly dangerous! What you’re doing right now, it’s not you! Let me help you-,”

“Yeah, he said you might say that.” He shrugged, “I guess that’s the difference between us. You told yourself you couldn’t ask for help, even though you wanted it. Me, I just don’t want it.”

“Fine, you wanna do that? I’m the one you want! Leave Ned out of this!”

Flash laughed, turning back to Venom, “ **Where’s the fun in that? He makes for such good throwing practice**.” He threw Ned over Peter’s head and out the window.

“Ned!” He cried, pulling on his mask. He leapt out and grabbed Ned who grasped onto him for dear life. Then he shot out a web and swung down to safety on the side of the street.

“Oh my God.” Ned breathed, still not letting go of Peter.

“Are you ok?”

“It’s Flash!” He gasped, “And what was that thing?!”

Venom crashed out of the window and onto the street, roaring.

“I’ll explain everything in a few minutes I’ll be right back.” He promised, running to face Venom.

“This’ll really piss him off.” He muttered to himself before standing in the middle of the street and shouting, “Hey! Mr. Parasite!”

Venom slowly turned to him before snarling, “ **Parasite**?!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” He exclaimed before swinging off in the opposite direction, letting Venom follow him. He landed into a roll on the top of a building and continued to run, but Venom was near enough to stretch out and grab him. Peter flipped and cartwheeled out of the way to avoid him, “Come on! Follow the bouncing spider!” He ran off the edge and swung again, reaching another building and running up along the side of it. His spider sense went off again and he leapt back as Venom crashed through the spot on the wall where he had just been. Feeling it as if were in slow motion, he backflipped through the air and shot a web into the hole in the wall, pulling himself through. At first, he didn’t see Venom in the abandoned office building, but then he lurched out at him from the darkness.

“Hey Flash! I’m not sure you can hear me from in there…” He began as he fought Venom, “But I just wanted to say… I’m sorry. Possessed by an alien or not, I shouldn’t have hurt you.” Venom stretched around, gripping his arms and legs and lifting him up into the air, “Hey! Venom! Not cool! I was trying to talk to-, hey!” He exclaimed as he shoved him into the ground and then hurled him up into the ceiling. He broke through and hit the ceiling of the next floor with a groan before rushing to his side as Venom jumped after him. He leapt out the shattered window and swung down to the empty street that was closed for repairs. Venom crushed the pavement next to him and attacked.

“Easy Tar Face!” Peter shouted, leaping back. Venom grabbed him by the ankles, dragging him towards him. Peter looked around, looking for something to grabbed onto and reached for the stop sign. He strained, holding on until the sign itself was pulled from the ground. Then he used it against Venom as he pulled him closer, swinging it and hitting him across the face. Venom lurched at him again, extending multiple slimly arms at him that Peter blocked with the sign. “En garde!” Peter exclaimed as he took one last swing with the sign that Venom caught in his hand and roared in Peter’s face.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Peter shouted back at him, “I’m not afraid anymore!” He breathed out, feeling stronger.

 **_You broke your promise._ ** Peter looked down and caught his breath to see Venom was slithering back into him, his voice in his head. **_You stopped me from finding Eddie._**

He nodded calmly, “And I’m sorry.”

“Peter!” Flash gasped, grabbing his arm, “Hold on, I’ll get him out of you! Get back here slimeball!”

“Flash, it’s ok.” Peter replied. He began to see blackness swimming across his vision. “Just stay back.”

Flash looked unsure, then eventually nodded slowly, holding up his arms and taking a few steps back.

“Eddie means to world to you. You’re hurting people because you’re hurt. That’s not right, but I know that losing someone important can make a person, or symbiote, go off the dead end.” He told the symbiote, “I made you a promise. I know you’re upset, but we’ll find Eddie. Just not like this.”

A long pause. **_Even after all the damage I inflicted on you, you still insist on helping me find Eddie?_** Venom finally said.

“I made a promise, didn’t I? You hurt me in one of the ways that would hurt me the most, so I don’t think things will ever be like they were before. But we were able to work together for a while there, so maybe this could be a start and we could not hate each other again?” He suggested.

Venom considered this for a moment, **_I certainly liked it better when we did not hate each other. I’m… sorry. Truly._**

Peter smiled, feeling the sincerity. Then he felt some sort of strange feeling flow through Venom, almost like he was overjoyed. He faintly heard a voice behind him, “Hey! No, bad symbiote! Leave the kid alone.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and Venom slowly left him. He knew exactly who it was before he even turned around. Eddie Brock stood in front of him, his hoodie turning grey as Venom sank in. He smiled at him, “Thanks for symbiote-sitting Kid. Sorry it took so long.”

Peter let out a long gasp, “Mr. Brock? It’s really you!”

Eddie’s face fell, “Oh God, please don’t call me that. Eddie is fine.”

“Ok Mr. Eddie.”

He sighed, shaking his head, “Just Eddie.”

“…Eddie…?” Peter began uncomfortably because it didn’t feel right.

“Yeah!”

“…sir?”

He blinked back at him, “No. We’ll work on that.”

“Wait, hold up… what? And how? Where did you even come from?” Peter stammered.

“I’ll tell you everything. But first, are you ok?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” He replied rather unconvincingly.

Eddie raised his brow, “I’ve heard that one before.”

Peter sighed, “Yeah… no. I can’t say it was all great.”

“I know. I realized that right after I handed Venom off, that that was really stupid. I should not have put that on you. And I also wouldn’t have done it if I had known I was giving it off to a hormonal sixteen-year-old.”

“Wait, you didn’t know I was sixteen?!” Peter beamed, pumping his fist in the air earning him a concerned look from Eddie, “Yes! Everyone thinks I’m, like, twelve! I’m too excited to be offended by that!”

“But it looks like you held up in the end.” He continued, looking at him empathically, “So, you’re gonna be ok?”

“Yeah.” Peter smiled, “I think I am.”

“Peter!” He turned to see Ned running at him from across the street, “Ned!” He met him halfway, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, you’re never gonna believe this but I found this alien and then he started taking over my body and that’s what I couldn’t tell you because I had to keep it a secret so we could find his original host Eddie Brock who is over there, but it’s ok now because it’s all over now and… hey what are doing?”

Ned wrapped him in a tight hug. Peter, relived, hugged him back.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s all over yet…”

Peter’s spider sense went off and he turned to see someone else his same height with a black and red spray-painted version of the Spider-Man suit.

“Woah…” He muttered, “You’re like me.”

The other Spider-Man nodded and held out his hand, “I’m Miles.”

“Peter.” He beamed, shaking his hand, “I really like your suit.”

“Thanks! I made it myself.”

“There are two Spider-Mans now?” Ned asked, glancing between them.

“No, actually. There are a lot more. Like, a lot a lot more.” He gestured to Eddie who was talking to Flash, “I came with him. There’s kind of a lot going on and we need you. Me and a bunch of other spider people found him and saved him from Mysterio and we captured him and have him at the Avengers headquarters place. Also, a symbiote army is coming! Like, we don’t have much time! Yeah, that was probably the most important part, I should have started with that.”

“Woah, ok, that’s a lot to take in.” Peter replied, turning to Ned, “I’m really sorry…”

He laughed, “Go. But you’re telling me everything as soon as you get back.”

Peter nodded and they did their secret handshake, “See you soon.”

“Wait.”

He turned to see Flash approaching and he sighed, “Look, I’m sorry Pen-, uh, Peter. Especially about, you know, attacking you.” He shrugged, “You’re not, you know… that bad. And plus, it’s pretty cool that you’re Spider-Man, I mean, that takes guts so. Oh, and your secret is totally safe with me by the way.”

“Oh, um…” Peter replied, surprised, “Thanks Flash. I’m sorry too, I…”

“Yeah, yeah I heard your whole little speech from inside the slimeball.”

“Hey! That slimeball has feelings you know!” Eddie shouted.

“Anyways, don’t you gotta go save the world or something?”

“Yeah.” He looked at Miles who nodded. He turned back to Ned and waved before swinging off with Miles and Eddie who transformed into Venom.


	17. Chapter 17

The Avengers headquarters was chaotic. Especially in the interrogation room with Miles, Peter, Gwen, Cindy, MJ, Eddie, Venom, Kamala Khan, Natasha Romanov, and Quentin Beck, who was held in restraints in the interrogation chair.

“So, this is the jerk face that ruined your summer vacation?” Kamala asked Peter, cracking her knuckles.

“Are the restraints necessary?” Quentin asked.

“Yes.” Everyone else in the room replied simultaneously.

“Well that was unanimous.” He muttered, “I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m not going to try to hide anything from you people at this point.”

“We’ll see.” Natasha replied, taking her chair, “Tell us about this symbiote invasion.”

He sighed, “Alright, so after the whole deal in Europe I had lost all connection with S.H.E.I.L.D. but it had turned out I had left some really important data that my crew and I needed back. So, I captured Nick Fury, and also Brock, thinking I could get him to give it back to me. But the thing was, that wasn’t Nick Fury. It was the shapeshifting alien creature called a Skrull. Then… excuse me, could you _stop staring so loudly_?!” Quentin jerked to Eddie.

“I’m sorry but, ‘stop staring so loudly’?” He shot back, confused.

“Beck, focus.” Natasha said sternly.

“Fine, ok so anyways because I’m not a total jerk I tortured him, found out something a little more pressing, and _then_ I let him go as long as he didn’t involve S.H.E.I.L.D. He had said he was standing in as a decoy because the real Nick Fury was on their planet working on controlling something big.” He smiled, “A whole symbiote invasion.”

“That you were trying to start!” MJ interjected.

Quentin shot her a furiously confused glance, “Excuse me? No sweetie, I’m trying to _stop_ the invasion.”

“She has proof!” Peter replied and MJ nodded, pulling out her phone.

He rolled his eyes, “Great, I can’t wait to see what this is.” He replied sarcastically.

MJ played back the video she had taken from inside his secret base of Quentin’s excitement at the mention of an invasion. They all turned to him and he groaned.

“I was being sarcastic!” He exclaimed, “Of course I don’t want an alien invasion I’m one of the morons that lives on this planet! I’m trying to stop it, and I found out more information from people in the community plus Brock that knew more, and we actually were able to get a symbiote to examine.”

“If you had told me that you were trying to stop an invasion, I would’ve just told you about them.” Eddie pointed out.

Quentin smirked, “But you see, I don’t like you.”

“You are an actual psychopath.”

“Yeah! Well, that’s coming from a guy who turns into a black slimy version of the Hulk and bites people’s heads off, so…”

“Ladies.” Natasha rolled her eyes, “That’s enough.”

“Ok, but then all these new spider kids from I don’t even know where,” Quentin continued.

“We’re all from other dimensions.” Miles pointed out.

“I never said I cared!” He snapped, “Anyways, they came, broke Brock out, and sabotaged my operation. And if our calculations are correct, which come on I mean, of course they are, the symbiotes were supposed to strike today.”

Natasha crossed her arms, “I can assure you that no matter how close they get, no matter how much they can take down, they won’t stand a chance against us.”

“Good, because they’re pretty close.” A voice replied as the door opened and Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Tony Stark, Carol Danvers, and a Skrull drinking a smoothie entered.

“Oh my gosh…” Peter trailed off.

“So, just so we’re clear… that’s the real Nick Fury, right?” Kamala asked while pointing to Fury, confused.

Fury grinned, “In the flesh.”

“So, with like all due respect or whatever, where the heck were you?” MJ asked.

“Hey, watch the sass.” Fury instructed, “S.H.E.I.L.D. was working on a mission with the Skrulls concerning a threat from another dimension. Things from that one crashing into ours; people, symbiotes, and then a planet. Ironically enough, a planet inhabited by symbiotes, and they were slowly learning how to get off that planet.”

“We lost a great amount of my brothers and sisters trying to stop them.” The Skrull spoke softly in melancholy.

Fury nodded empathically, placing a hand on his shoulder and continued, “You know Talos, well, maybe not by Talos…”

Talos grinned, morphing into an exact lookalike of Nick Fury. All the spider kids gasped.

“Woah! That was so cool! What else can you turn into?” Miles asked him excitedly.

“Ok great, now they’re sidetracked.” Tony muttered sarcastically.

“Anyways!” Fury began loudly to get their attention again, “He stood in as me to find out about Eddie Brock, and eventually Beck.”

“You jerk face!” Talos shouted at Quentin before sipping his smoothie again. Quentin shrugged.

Carol cracked her knuckles, “Yeah, you tortured my friend!”

“Hey, easy girl. You can beat him up after this is over.” Maria replied, gripping Carol’s shoulder.

Eddie scoffed, “Yeah, just get in line.”

“The symbiotes were drawn to Earth by the calls the symbiotes on Earth were putting out. Except for maybe Venom. We contacted Carol, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and pretty much everyone on and off world. We’re going to need the whole team for this one because pretty soon we’re going to have pods filled with aliens crashing onto this planet.” Fury finished.

Natasha raised her brow, “How soon?”

Just then Bruce Banner burst into the room and gasped, “Now!”

* * *

Everyone raced out and Peter gasped as they reached one of the large windows of the facility and saw a black pod flash past and hit the ground below them. When he looked out over the very edge, a flood of ooze spread across the ground, eventually splitting into individual symbiotes that slithered apart.

“Alright, let’s go beat up some slimeballs.” Carol stated determinedly, turning to leave.

“Not so fast Danvers.” Maria called after her and Carol stopped for a brief moment before the room shook from impact.

“What was that?!” Bruce exclaimed.

“They’ve hit the roof.” Maria replied, “Come on!”

“Wait! If any of you guys get taken over by a symbiote, how are we going to save Earth?!” Eddie asked frantically.

Tony smirked, “You know, I would personally like to see any of those slimeballs try. Especially with the sonic blasts I installed into my suit on the way here.”

They all ran onto the roof where they found a group of S.H.E.I.L.D. agents already there, however, symbiotes grew around their bodies.

“See? That’s exactly what I was trying to say before, but if that happens to any of you guys…” Eddie continued annoyedly.

“Alright, Brock and Banner. Now’s a good time to bring out the big guns.” Tony stated, fired a sonic blast at one S.H.E.I.L.D. that sent him flying over the roof.

Bruce sighed, turning into the Hulk in an instant. Eddie, however, crossed his arms, “Alright Mr. Fancy Billionaire Dude, I don’t take orders from you. However, I was going to do that anyways, but not because you told me too. Yeah, alright.” He muttered before becoming Venom.

Peter glanced at Tony who nodded, his nanotech Iron Man suit appearing around him. They fought back to back, fending off the symbiotes. Carol zoomed into the air in a ray of light and blew up the pods as they flew to the ground. In the middle of the fight, one of the symbiote S.H.E.I.L.D. agents struck Peter and nearly knocked him off of the roof. Tony reached out and grabbed him.

Peter gasped, looking down, “Mr. Stark!”

Tony sighed, noticing it too, “Yeah, I see it.” An army of civilians taken over by symbiotes had swarmed the streets. Miles leapt on top of one of the symbiotes on the roof. He shot out a web that connected to the faces of two more and pulled, forcing them into one another. He flipped and landed next to Peter and Tony, “There’s kind of a lot of these guys.”

Tony nodded concernedly, “Yeah…”

“It’s ok.” Peter replied optimistically, “We’ve gotta get the civilians out of here so we can stop the symbiotes from spreading, um… Oh! The Sanctum Sanctorum! We can start leading people there, but even gotta keep the pods from exploding on more people, so everyone who has web shooters will form a web canopy and we’ll need some more air power to keep up with Captain Marvel in order to stop more pods…” Peter paused, catching Tony looking at him and smiling, “What?”

“No, that sounds good.”

He nodded, grinning underneath his mask, “Ok.” He turned to Miles, “Will you come with me? We still need to get MJ, Gwen, and Cindy if we’re going to do this.”

“Yeah Man. Let’s go!”

They swung over to find the others and explained the plan.

“Well, you’re gonna have to show me where that is because I have no clue.” Cindy replied causally.

Peter nodded, “I will. Follow me.”

The spider kids took off down the streets, using their web fluid to create a giant web canopy in the space between buildings, covering the streets.

“Hey!” Gwen yelled as loud as she could, lowering herself on to the street, “If anyone here doesn’t want to turn into a slimy alien, follow us!”

It was only the few people who were trying to find shelter in the streets at first, but the crowd slowly grew bigger as more people looked outside their windows and joined them.

“Wow. This is actually working.” Gwen beamed.

“Uh, guys… the aliens are getting closer.” Cindy pointed behind them nervously, “I think we gotta hurry this up. How much longer until we get there?”

“We’re almost there.” Peter replied, “Just a little more-, oh no!”

One of the symbiotes charged under the canopy, and Peter swung underneath the canopy to stop it. The civilians noticed the gaining symbiote and screamed, running faster.

“Woah! Orderly fashion people!” Miles called as they began to move faster than they could complete the canopy.

The symbiote gained on them and Peter heard a cry, turning to see a little girl with curly dark hair had tripped and had been trampled by the crowd. She couldn’t get up.

Peter sighed, “Oh no.” He stopped, swinging down beside her and picking her up. The symbiote was now close enough to lurch on top of them, so Peter turned his back to it, shielding the girl. But then he heard a grunt and turned to see MJ fighting the symbiote back. With one finally blow underneath the jaw, the symbiote fell to the ground, out cold.

“Thank you.” Peter nodded, still a bit shaken, “I like your suit.”

She grinned, “Thanks. Cindy made it.”

“Woah…” The little girl breathed, then continued excitedly, “That was so awesome! You guys are the coolest superheroes ever!”

Peter and MJ exchanged a glance and she smiled back at the girl, “Thanks Kid.” She looked at Peter, “We better get going.”

Peter nodded, carrying the little girl as they swung above the canopy and joined the others.

“Who’s your friend?” Cindy asked, swinging over them and tapping the little girl on the nose.

She laughed, “I’m Amani!”

“Sup Amani! We’re going to find his wizard friend.” She jerked her thumb at Peter.

Amani gasped, “You know a wizard?”

Peter gave a light laugh, “Yeah.” _I just hope we can get to him in time._ He thought to himself. He swung around the bend, “This way! He’s right down this street.”

They hurried to the sanctorum and when they finally got there, Peter lowered Amani to the ground with the rest of the civilians and she beamed, waving at him. He waved back and landed behind the crowd with the rest of the spider kids as the doors opened, allowing for the civilians to go in.

“Woo! Five-way spider high-five! We did it!” Cindy yelled, high-fiving the group.

They all froze as a low growling surrounded them. Peter looked around and saw a mob of symbiotes crawling over buildings and through the streets all around them.

“Everyone! Get inside, now!” Gwen shouted as the spider kids stood, ready to fend them off. The symbiotes snarled as the grew closer before striking an attack on them, but the spider kids defended the crowd.

Peter held back the arm of a symbiote that had tried to claw him when he heard Miles shout, “Hey, does anybody have an extra web fluid?”

“I told you to pack extras before we left! Remember me reminding you? I asked three times, ‘Miles, do you have extra web fluid?’ And you were like, ‘Yeah, Gwen. I’ve got extra web fluid.’ So, I don’t know why you didn’t pack the extra web fluid!” Gwen exclaimed, jumping on top of one of the symbiotes and webbing its arms to its face when it reached up to grab her.

“I did pack extra web fluid _Mom_!” Miles shot back, “You know, hypothetically I did. I just don’t have any physical web fluid at the moment.”

“I’ve got some!” Peter exclaimed, pulling the extra cartridge from his web shooter and reaching it to Miles, but as he did, a symbiote shot up and sunk its teeth into his arm. He swore loudly as the pain spiked through his arm and Miles gasped, panicked.

“Oh my God, oh my God… it won’t let go!” He cried, trying to pry it from Peter, “This might hurt…” He gripped the symbiote and electricity shot through his fingertips, causing the symbiote to cry out in pain before shrinking back.

“Are you ok?” Miles asked him concernedly.

“Yeah.” He winced a little, handing Miles the cartridge, “That was so cool! What was that? It was like you shot electricity out of you!”

“It’s my Venom Strike.” He replied, loading his web shooter, “Thanks Man.”

Peter nodded, “Sure thing.”

Gwen sighed as more symbiotes swarmed over the city, “Alright, here we go again.”

The spider kids managed to hold them back and Peter looked over his shoulder to see that everyone was almost inside. They only had to hold them back a little longer.

One of the symbiotes raised Miles by his neck and nearly bit his head off. Peter ran to try and stop it, but thankful Gwen reached him before it could happen. She swung in and skillfully kicked it in the chest, and it dropped Miles in the impact. He immediately turned and venom-struck it. In the burst of electricity, the symbiote shrieked and spilt apart from its host, which was left lying on the ground as the symbiote tried to reenter.

“Ew, gross.” Gwen muttered, kicking it away with her foot as the others turned to the man lying on the ground.

“I’ve got him.” Cindy replied, slinging his arm over her shoulder and supporting him.

“Peter…” MJ started faintly, pointing up at the sky. Hundreds more pods rained down, including the ones about to crash over their heads.

“Oh my God…” Miles muttered, “This is whack, even for me!”

Cindy glanced at Peter concernedly, “What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” Peter replied quietly. What if something had happened to the others they had left behind? For the first time, he wondered if they would be able to handle this. The symbiotes lurching towards them seemed to move in slow motion as Peter stared off, dazed, while the others stood, ready to defend themselves.

“Peter!” He finally heard behind him as someone grabbed his arm and pulled him through a sparkly orange portal. The next thing he knew he was inside the Sanctum Sanctorum. Doctor Strange stood beside him, and when he looked around, he saw the other spider kids had been rescued by sorcerers too that had opened portals to retrieve them. As Strange closed his portal, a symbiote stuck its hand through, but it was chopped off when the portal sealed shut.

“Ah!” Peter exclaimed, shuffling backwards on the ground and holding out his arm. The grey color of the symbiote slowly faded away and revealed a human hand.

“Oh, I think I’m going to be sick.” Miles muttered, glancing down at it.

“Cool.” MJ snapped a picture of it on her phone, “Can I keep that?”

“Um… I guess?” Strange replied, staring at her concernedly.

Peter was mortified by this, because even though they were fighting an army of monsters, they were still humans underneath, “… That person, do you think they’ll be ok?”

Strange looked down regretfully and didn’t answer.

“I think they’ll be ok.” Gwen replied slowly, “The symbiotes can heal wounds.”

He suddenly got a strange feeling about Gwen and was about to ask her how she knew that but Strange spoke again before he had the chance.

“You were right to bring them here.” He told the spider kids while helping Peter off the ground, referring to the group of people they had brought in, “The most efficient way we’re going to stop this invasion is making sure no new people are, well…”

“Venomized?” Miles suggested.

“…Um, sure. That works. Anyways, sorcerers all over the world have been letting people into their sanctums, while we have Avengers in multiple regions trying to neutralize the threat.”

Peter nodded, suddenly becoming aware of how much is arm was stinging. The symbiote had bitten deeper than he had thought, and he could feel the blood trickling down his arm. All of the sudden, Gwen collapsed to the ground. Everyone gasped and Miles and Cindy rushed to help her up, but she pushed them away. Peter realized exactly what was happening before the black symbiote revealed itself, wrapping around her body. The symbiote even mimicked her white hood.

“One of the aliens is inside!” One of the civilians screamed before starting a panic.

All of the sorcerers formed a defensive line, creating glowing orange magic shields to stop her.

“Don’t hurt her!” Miles exclaimed, pushing himself off the floor.

“Hey man, I’m a little more concerned about her hurting us.” Cindy replied, holding up her fists.

The Gwen symbiote snarled at them and attacked. The spider kids and the sorcerers fought back, but Gwen’s agility combined with the symbiote’s viciousness made them aggressively violent. Half of the defenders lay on the ground, wounded and Gwen was probably the only thing keeping it from taking heads.

“We must get her out of here or she’ll kill somebody!” Wong exclaimed.

“No!” Miles shouted, “We can’t leave Gwen somewhere; we’ve gotta get that thing out of her!”

“Miles!” Peter exclaimed, flipping backwards as Gwen sliced at him, “Do your Venom Strike!”

“Right!” He gasped, “Hold on!” Miles leapt over her and gripped her shoulder, electricity sparking through his fingertips and… nothing happened.

“It didn’t work!” Miles exclaimed, panicked, “Why didn’t it work? It worked the other time, why isn’t it-, ah!” He cried as Gwen lifted him up and threw him against the wall. The symbiote stretched from her and towards him, keeping him pinned against the wall as she loomed towards him.

Peter had one last idea, frantically changing the setting on his web shooters, “Miles! Do it again!” He called.

Miles gripped the strand of the symbiote that held him and struck as Peter shot Gwen with his taser webs. The symbiote screeched from the pain of the electricity and split apart from her. Miles caught her as she fell, and Peter, MJ, and Cindy rushed towards the symbiote. Doctor Strange followed them, opening up a portal that the symbiote fell through and closed it.

“Where did you send it?” MJ asked him.

“The dark dimension.” He replied causally and turned to Gwen and Miles who had joined them. Miles supported Gwen with her arm over his shoulder, “Are you ok?”

She shrugged, “I’ve been better when I haven’t just had a symbiote taking over my body, but other than that I’m good.”

They could all tell the experience had shaken Gwen more than she was letting on, especially her mortified expression looking at all the sorcerers she had hurt and the slashes across Cindy’s chest and MJ’s thigh.

Peter could tell from the tension in the air that they were all thinking the same thing. That a symbiote had managed to so easily slip in without anyone noticing or raising any suspicion. That there could be more.

Miles seemed to address this by turning to the crowd of people and shouting, “Hey! Raise your hand if you’re secretly an alien!” When nobody raised their hands, he shrugged, “I think we’re good.”

Strange sighed, shaking his head, “Alright everyone, follow me.”


	18. Chapter 18

Doctor Strange had led them all to a large room with a giant monitor across the far wall displaying a global map and computers set up around it. Just about everyone had wounds that they needed to bandage and Strange insisted he fixed Peter’s arm before he could lose any more blood. For the first time, Peter noticed his hands shook a little as he did this.

After everyone else had treated their wounds, Wong adjusted the map on the screen from one of the computers.

“Wow, I didn’t think a magic sanctum would have, you know… technology.” Miles said, glancing around.

Strange grimaced, “We’re not savages.”

“Well, I know. I just thought you guys would use magic or something.”

“It’s fairly difficult to make FaceTime calls when the rest of the world isn’t accustomed to using magic.” Wong replied, answering the incoming calls on the monitor, “And besides, something also has to keep the PlayStation online.” 

Peter realized that they were basically on Skype with all of the world‘s leaders and important organizations. Dots on the map lit up in the locations of the people on the call and subtitles underneath their images. Peter recognized a few of the faces like President Michelle Obama, King T’Challa of Wakanda aka Black Panther, and that one really angry dude that didn’t like superheroes and wanted the Sokovia accords to rule over everything… Secretary Ross! That’s who he was. He looked extra angry today. Wong had also pulled up news coverage on another computer.

“… We’re facing global crisis. Tell me, can we rely on the Avengers to protect us all from a threat of this magnitude?” Brazil’s prime minster asked, “How can we expect them to save the world if it’s already collapsed into chaos? We wait even thirty more minutes and there will be nothing left to save! This is why the shift from governments’ dependence on the Avengers is crucial-,”

“Not now.” President Obama cut her off, “That discussion can be tabled for a time when the earth is not about to be completely overrun by symbiotes. What we need is a way to neutralize this threat. There are ways to remove the symbiotes from their hosts bodies, but we need to figure out some kind of global containment in order to get rid of them all at the same time.”

“Even if we are able to separate them all at the same time, how do we stop them from taking over the hosts again?” The President of Indonesia asked.

“Is anyone able to reach contact with S.H.E.I.L.D.? They carried out extensive research on the topic.” The Britain Prime Minister suggested.

“Again, illegally! The Sokovia accords are in place to keep activity from getting out of hand. If you ask me, they’re the reason for this issue. Plus, the resistance of the Avengers to comply to the accords is proving more dysfunctional for them to actually save the day. King T’Challa, in what way could this team of ‘superheroes’ possibly resolve this issue?” Secretary Ross ranted frustratedly.

“I am a King, not a superhero.” T’Challa replied calmly, “As for the Avengers, we will do everything we can to keep Earth safe.”

The Secretary did not look convinced, “Don’t you think it might be a little late for that?”

“Secretary, with all due respect, it would be essential that we focus on solving the issue rather than blaming anyone or else there is not going to be an Earth left to save.” President Obama replied sternly, and Secretary Ross grumbled before going silent, “Alright, now, where is S.H.E.I.L.D.?”

“They’re not responding.” The Britain Prime Minister replied, “What if they’ve already been overrun?”

“We would have received a distress signal.” T’Challa pointed out, “We need to take action now. Without or without S.H.E.I.L.D.”

“What do you propose we do?”

“We may have a solution.” Strange imputed, suddenly grabbing the attention of everyone on the call.

“Alright, the wizards finally want to talk.” Secretary Ross muttered.

“It’s not ideal…” Strange continued, ignoring the Secretary, “And it will be incredibly difficult to actually accomplish, but if we were able to concentrate all the symbiotes in one area, we could send them back to their planet while keeping their hosts on Earth.”

Judging by the sideways glance Wong shot Strange, there must have been more to it. The world leaders seemed to consider it.

“Well, we should try to get them in a rural area.” Brazil’s prime minister suggested.

“That’ll be next to impossible.” The Prime Minister of Japan replied, “In fact, the highest concentration of symbiotes is already in New York. There’s no way we can move billions of symbiotes to a location where no one is.” 

“It’s always New York. Never like, I don’t know, Portee Scotland.” A young sorceress next to Peter commented matter-of-factly.

“The ‘where’ doesn’t necessarily matter. When it comes down to it, we’ll use the mirror dimension.” Strange replied.

Wong gave him a judgement look, “You want to trap us with thousands of symbiotes in the mirror dimension?”

He sighed, “I know, but this might be our best shot. Using the mirror dimension would be the only way we could keep them from spreading and keep people from getting hurt.”

“Yes, but that won’t do us much good if all of the Avengers get killed, or worse.” Wong pointed out.

“I would prefer not being worse-than-killed.” Miles imputed nervously.

“Well, there’s only one thing worse than being killed.” Gwen replied simply, tearing away part of the sheet of paper she had been drawing on during all of this so it revealed the word Miles reading “Miles being killed”, “Boom.”

“Miles.” Cindy replied as Miles gave an “aw” in admiration.

“No!” Gwen exclaimed and Peter and MJ laughed.

The World Leaders blinked and looked at them in confusion and Peter realized that they could see and hear them. Thankfully, they were all wearing their masks so their identities wouldn’t be revealed.

“What are those?” Britain’s Prime Minister asked unsurely.

“Oh, uh don’t mind us!” Peter waved awkwardly, “Hi Michelle Obama. You’re super awesome; I’m a big fan.”

“Um… thank you… Spider-Man.” She replied, before responding to Strange’s point, “You really think that might work?”

“I believe all of us can handle them.” He nodded and Wong sighed, shaking his head.

“Alright, how do we do this? How can we get them all to New York?” The President of the United States asked.

“Wait, Peter, didn’t you say the symbiotes didn’t like loud noises?” MJ suggested and he nodded, “Okay, what if we used the International Space Station to send a frequency to sweep the planet and stop it once it hits New York? I mean, aren’t you guys already using it to mind control people to stop them from actually getting into Area 51?”

There was silence among the call for a moment, “That’s a very bold accusation young lady.” The Prime Minister of Japan replied, “None of which is true, but, nonetheless, that could work if we broadcasted a frequency around the globe.”

“Then let’s send out a global emergency to keep everyone inside.”

“Wait! We’ve received an update!” German’s president interjected, “There appears to be defense team outside the atmosphere destroying the symbiotes before they enter.”

“Who is it?” Secretary Ross asked, slightly annoyed.

“Well, we have individuals that are recorded as the Avengers but there is also another ship… wait, there’s a transmission.” As soon as the President played the transmission, Peter recognized the voice of Peter Quill aka Star Lord.

“Alright Earth bitches! Did anyone call for the Guardians of the Galaxy?”

The President immediately shut off the transmission. Strange sighed, “Yeah, we know them.” And T’Challa nodded.

“As long as they hold off anymore from entering the planet, we can start the scan and that will give the Avengers about an hour to get to New York.” The Prime Minister of Scotland stated.

T’Challa nodded, “I’ll alert the team.”

The World Leaders continued to initiate the protocols needed to send off the frequency and Wong left the call. He turned to Stephen and sighed, “I hope you know what you’re doing. You’re not going to be able to complete that spell by yourself.”

“I know. I’ll have you, the Scarlet Witch, and Loki.” He smiled.

Wong did not look amused, “Wanda, maybe, but your plan relies on trusting the God of mischief?” He sighed, shaking his head, “There is something you must know.” He nodded to the spider kids, “This goes for all of you. No matter how strong you are, no one can carry the weight of the entire world on their shoulders.”

“We’ll be together.” Peter replied determinedly.

Wong glanced at Strange, “You’ve made a pretty big promise with the world.”

“I am aware. And I need you to trust me.” He replied just as seriously.

Wong sighed again and pressed his hand to his forehead, “Stephen…”

“Mr. Dr. Strange sir, you’re making him upset!” Miles interjected, hugging Wong.

Wong pat him back and glared at Strange. He sighed, “Alright, yes, Wong. We will be extremely careful, and I genuinely believe that this will work. I’ve seen the issue coming, and we can face it.”

Wong nodded slowly, “Ok, I trust you. Let’s find out what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Nick Fury, Maria Hill and all of them were last with us at the Avengers headquarters.” Peter pointed out.

Strange nodded, turning to open a portal, then glanced back at Wong and smiled, “Thank you.”

The portal opened and the spider kids stepped through with Wong. Strange instructed the sorcerers to make sure everyone was evacuated and had reached safety. They were inside the Avengers headquarters at the hallway where they had looked out the long glass window to first see the symbiotes swarming the streets. There now was a full river of them. Areas of the glass were shattered, but things were strangely quiet. 

“Where is everyone?” Miles asked concernedly, “And why aren’t there, you know, symbiotes literally everywhere in this building?”

“Alright, we’re going to search the building quietly and carefully and most importantly quietly.” Strange instructed, repeating quietly twice, “That means no memes or pop culture refers from anybody, do you understand?”

The spider kids grumbled an agreement.

“Great. Three groups; two of two and one of three. Look out for each other.” Strange, Wong, and Cindy took off in one direction headed upstairs and Gwen and Miles went downstairs. Peter and MJ stayed to search on the current floor.

“Alright, is this spider sense or common sense that’s going off?” MJ wondered out loud as they turned the corner and Peter could feel it too.

“Probably the first one because I can feel it too and I don’t have any of the second one.” He replied, then shouted, “Jump!” as a sky blue symbiote dropped out of the air vent above them.

MJ and Peter leapt off to opposite sides and the symbiote on the ground gave a low growl at them.

“Huh. Not so big and scary without a host, are you?” MJ taunted. 

This time the symbiote roared and stretched itself, spiking in about fifty different directions, MJ and Peter flipped through the air to avoid being hit. Peter stuck to the ceiling and MJ landed in a lunge on the ground as the symbiote retracted back into itself.

“What the heck is it doing?” She exclaimed as it lurched itself onto the ceiling and Peter barely ducked in enough time to avoid being nailed in the head. He backed and tumbled across the ceiling as it slithered towards him.

“I don’t know!”

“Hold on!” MJ called, using her web shooters to latch onto it, stepped back in surprise as it absorbed them, “Um…”

Peter flipped off the ceiling and landed next to her, “That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not.”

The symbiote then began to fluctuate in size and reached out at them. It grabbed Peter and lifted him up in the air. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed, kicking to break free from it, but it held him by his arms and legs. MJ tried her web shooters again to pull Peter from it. It almost worked, however, the symbiote reached and attached to her legs, dangling her upside down. Then the symbiote threw Peter across the room and he crashed through the wall into the interrogation room where they had first interrogated Quentin. In fact, he was still there, strapped to his chair.

“Man, you’re still here?” He asked in disbelief.

Quentin rolled his eyes, annoyed, “Yeah, congratulations, you noticed. I’ve been calling for you guys for about an hour!”

“Well, you know, we’ve been kinda busy!” Peter shot back. Then the symbiote crashed into the room and shoved him against the wall. He let out a surprised “oof” before gritting his teeth to fight it off.

Quentin seemed completely unfazed, “Do you two need some help?”

“No!” Peter and MJ who were still struggling against the symbiote shouted back.

He shrugged, “Alright. Suit yourself. If you just let me go, I could help you out.”

“I know what you’re trying to do.” Peter huffed, heaving a chunk of broken cement wall at the symbiote, causing it to shrink back just a little, “And it won’t work. I’m not falling for it.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t. You’re too smart for that now apparently.” He sneered, “But come on, think about it. Why would I betray you now? I live on Earth too, you know. I want to see these symbiotes gone just as much as you do.”

“Peter, don’t listen to him!” MJ warned, punching the symbiote as hard as she could, knocking it back as it still held her in the air.

“I’m not.” Peter replied frankly and comedically, seriously wondering why both of them were concerned that he was actually considering doing it, “I’m not an idiot.”

Quentin scoffed, “I mean…”

MJ flicked her wrist and shot a web over his mouth so he couldn’t talk anymore.

Peter sighed with relief, “Thanks.” And Quentin rolled his eyes.

MJ thrashed in the air as the symbiote surrounded and grabbed at her. She tried to pull against it, but it was quickly beginning to consume her.

“MJ!” He panicked, hitting it with a taser web. It shrieked, swiping at Peter and knocking him against the wall again. Peter pushed himself off the ground and watched helplessly as MJ tried to fight against it.

“It’s ok, I almost got it!” She exclaimed, then it reached around her face and pulled her head backwards, “Wait, never mind…” She managed before it covered her mouth.

“MJ!” He cried, then caught Quentin glancing at him with a smug, knowing look. Peter inhaled, conflicted, then closed his eyes and sighed, “If you make me regret this, I will beat you up with a pool noodle.”

Peter broke the restraints holding him and ripped the web off his face.

“Ow.” He winced, touching his face where the web had been.

“You’re welcome.” Peter replied with a controlled amount of bitterness in his voice.

Quentin looked down at him with a seemingly new perspective, almost if that coming from Peter had surprised him. Then he shot him a sly smile and turned to the symbiote. He held out his hands and green mist shot from the devices on his wrists revealed when the sleeve on his jacket fell back. Irritated by the mist, the symbiote snarled at him and reached out for him, but much to Peter’s surprise, he flew over it.

“Hold up a sec, I thought you didn’t have powers? Wasn’t it all just special effects in England?”

“Yeah, glad you like the hover tech. My team has been working on some new advances. You showed us we had to step up our game if we were going to make it more realistic.” He replied, spraying the symbiote again, “Though, the cape sort of completes the look.”

This time, the symbiote seemed the wither back and shriek even louder. MJ’s hand shot up through the sky-blue mess and Peter gasped, reaching for her, but she was immediately pulled back under.

“I’ll get it again; you stand on the other side and pull it back. Get ready to grab her and get the hell away from that thing.” Quentin instructed and Peter nodded, before shuddering a little to himself. He still did not trust him. 

“Thermal gas.” He realized, webbing the symbiote, “That’s what you’re using. That’s why it’s messing with the symbiote. There are three things they can’t stand: fire or intense heat, loud noises, and high electrical shocks.”

“Yeah. How’d you figure them all out?” Quentin replied.

Peter shrugged, “Well, I did have one inside me for a while.”

“I’m sorry, you what?!” He actually sounded a bit concerned.

“Yeah, that’s kind of been my entire past week. Hold on,” Peter planted himself behind the symbiote and shot a web around it, pulling the ends with it back as it tore at Quentin. He doused the symbiote in mist and it eventually began to split apart, unable to escape. Peter attached the web to the wall and took a deep breath before diving in to grab MJ. He finally felt her hand grasp around his and he pulled her out.

“Come on!” He heard Quentin shout, and he swung out of the room behind him. The symbiote roared and tried to come after them, but MJ tore away from Peter and smashed the keypad next to the door and it slammed shut. They all took a moment to catch their breath. There was a faint pounding sound from inside the room.

“You let him go?!” MJ finally exclaimed, pointing at Quentin.

“Yeah! I was trying to get you out of that thing!” Peter gestured wildly back towards the door.

“That doesn’t mean you should’ve let the psychopath go!”

“And… you’re welcome for saving your life.” Quentin chimed in sarcastically, standing up and dusting himself off, “Alright, let’s go.”

MJ scoffed, “And just like that we’re supposed to trust you?”

Quentin stared her down with equal intensity, “Maybe if you want to make it out of this alive you should.”

“If I where you I’d be more worried about staying alive with the amount of people just in this building you’ve pissed off to the max versus any symbiote on this planet.” MJ sneered back.

“Guys.” Peter tried. The sound of the symbiote in the other room was getting louder.

MJ and Quentin continued arguing back and forth while Peter tried to get their attention and then eventually, Tony, Doctor Strange, Cindy, Wong, and Eddie came crashing downstairs.

“We almost died out there!” Cindy gasped for air, red in the face.

“They’re already coming. And that’s good. It just means we have to be ready for them.” Stephen paused, staring straight at Quentin.

“Who let him out?!” Tony exclaimed pointing at him and both he and MJ pointed to Peter.

“He did it.” They both said in unison.

“Oh, _now_ you want to agree on something!” Peter threw his arms up in frustration.

“Why would you do that?!” He questioned him, sounding more alarmed than before.

“Because I thought that was the right thing to do because MJ was-,”

Tony cut Peter off, “Nope. No. Under no circumstance is it a good idea to release a bad guy. Ok?! Do you get that? You’re scaring me right now. I know that you’re a smart kid, but,”

“Well without me, these two probably would have been eaten, so you’re welcome. Just like without me, your ‘B.A.R.F.’ tech was exactly that.” Quentin cut him off, crossing his arms.

“Wow, I think that is the most mature thing I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of a forty-year-old.” Tony replied sarcastically, “That must’ve been why I fired you. Oh wait! I remember why now; it’s because you’re psychotic!”

“You stole my tech, slapped your name on it, and gave it a stupid name. You didn’t even use it right! If you were going to steal my ideas and life’s work than you could’ve at least come up with something better than ‘therapy’.”

“Oh, like making a giant fire monster?”

“Exactly!” Quentin replied almost a little too seriously, then turned to Peter, “I told you what happened to me. This man only cares about his ego. Nothing else. No one else. If you’re going to keep looking up to him, I’d watch your back.”

Peter shuddered at this, clenching his fists.

But Tony fired back, “Oh, that’s rich. Because I modified your project into something that would actually help people. Because what you went ahead and did was so much better. If you remember, I offered you one last chance, didn’t I? I said if you still wanted credit for the tech, you would straighten up your act, you wouldn’t go behind the back of the company and report all findings to Stark industries immediately, like you should have been doing. And what did you say?”

Quentin glared at him with an intense hatred, “No.”

“Yep. I remember that too. You’re not going to be a hero. And I’m not going to be your villain. You can twist that up however you want in your head, but you’re nothing to me. Just as much as I, believe it or not, wish I could be nothing to you. You’ve gone entirely off the deep end, and honestly, that’s fine. We’ll just stop you. But I want you to know next time you go ‘let me just blame Tony Stark for my troubled past and inferior plots’ that I’m not the one to manipulate and prey on people.”

“Really?!” Quentin nearly shrieked, “That’s funny, because-,”

“That’s enough!” Strange shouted to get their attention. He grabbed Tony by the arm who immediately shook him off, “We’ve got more pressing matters bigger than either of your egos right now.”

Tony nodded, turning away and taking a deep breath, “Yeah, you’re absolutely right.” He then thrashed back around and blasted Quentin in the chest his replusor, “Oh, by the way, that’s for trying to beat up my mentee in Europe!” He called.

Peter let out a small gasp and Quentin pushed himself back up, visibly winded from the hit and from not expecting it. Then his expression changed, determined not to let them see it, “I didn’t beat up your ‘mentee’…”

“Yeah! Peter whipped his sorry ass!” MJ replied energetically and Peter blushed a little.

Quentin sighed, “Now that’s giving him a bit much credit.”

“From now on, there’s no more attacking, manipulating, fighting, or webbing each other.” Strange stated, helping Quentin off the ground, “At least until this is over. So everyone, try to play nice.”

“Ow!” Quentin exclaimed as Strange’s grip tightened around his shoulder until he finally let go.

“Sorry. I have a strong grip.” Strange replied unapologetically.

They made their way down to the lowest level of the building where they met up with Miles and Gwen. Peter could see the symbiotes prowling the streets through the one long window and he could certainly hear them. But soon enough, they weren’t the only ones facing them.


	19. Chapter 19

Once all the Avengers and their teammates arrived in New York, they assembled in front of the headquarters. Most of them had arrived by airol vehicles that were all now parked on the roof, but others had simply flown themselves there. Tony had been able to fix the lockdown protocol, so the symbiotes were forced out among the radius around them.

“Thought we might have been able to catch a little break before the next Earth-shattering event.” Valkyrie muttered bitterly.

“Yeah, well you still lost the bet.” Loki replied proudly, “I said it would be less than a year!”

Natasha nodded to Steve after checking a small device that was tracking the symbiotes, “We’ve almost got them all here.”

“But are _we_ all here?” Clint asked, glancing around at the crowd of superheroes, “Hey!” He called, “Raise your hand if you’re not here.”

All of the Avengers under thirty plus Scott Lang and Peter Quill raised their hands.

Bruce rolled his eyes, “Nope. We’ve got everyone.”

“Great. Everyone, get ready.”

Peter’s palms grew sweaty and began to shake. His breathing became unsteady and he stumbled back a bit, gazing unfocused at the sea of symbiotes outside the barrier. As he tried to calm himself down and failed to remember a time ever having an anxiety attack _before_ a battle. He suddenly felt overwhelmed about everything that had happened; what had happened to him under Venom’s influence, shoving away his friends and family, even what Quentin had said about Tony was nagging at him. For some reason, this seemed to be the first time he had the daunting fear about the outcome of this fight. With the Avengers, he had always felt safe and in the end, they would always win, but now he had seemed to lose his faith. Maybe that was because he was one, and he didn’t truly believe in himself.

“They’re here.” Maria Hill stated, and Peter took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and pressing his thumb against his palm.

Stephen Strange nodded, raised his hands. Peter gasped as the world around them began to shift and translucent, triangular shapes hung in the air, reflecting the outside world inside the dome Strange had created around New York.

“Now we’re in the mirror dimension.” He explained, “We just need to stay alive to get the symbiotes off the planet and reopen it so we can get out.”

“Alright.” Steve nodded and turned to Sam, “Do you want to do the honors?”

Sam nodded. He had recently taken on the Captain America shield and title under Steve’s mentorship. He still looked like his previous alibi, Falcon, but his colors had taken on a more patriotic tone. Peter didn’t know him as especially well as everyone else did, but he knew that if the original Captain America trusted him, then he was going to do great.

“Avengers!” He called out as they all got in their battle stances, “Assemble.”

The next bits were blurred by a rush of adrenaline as they rushed into the scene, letting the barrier down. Peter fought through the swarm of dark colored symbiotes around him and watched as those who could fly flew further down the line.

“Kid! Heads up!” Hope grew to her normal size in midair and kicked the symbiote across the face.

“Thanks!” Peter beamed. Scott soon appeared next to them.

“Yes!” He grinned, “The Bug Squad reunites!”

Hope sighed, “If you’re going to keep doing that, at least come up with a better name for it.”

“Watch out!” A dark-haired girl with antennas in green and black Peter recognized as Mantis raced across and shoot her hand out in front of her, touching the symbiote’s head. Her fingers glowed and instantly, it shrunk back, screaming. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath.

“Hey, you ok?” Scott asked her with an edge of concern in his voice, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Oh yes. It is always a shock, altering a symbiote’s mind. It is dark and twisted. And also very loud.” She explained, steading herself, “I’m fine though.”

“Mantis, right?” Hope asked and she nodded.

“Hey… Mantis is a bug name!” Scott realized and his voice grew excited, leaving Mantis looking confused, “We have this thing; we’re the Bug Squad. He’s on board.” He pointed to Peter, then to Hope, “She, not so much. Do you wanna join?”

Mantis beamed, “I would love to be a member of the squad of the bugs!”

“Great! Look at us, having our own Avengers team up!” Scott exclaimed proudly and Hope rolled her eyes. Peter smiled too. Then the four fought against the symbiotes together. There was a roar followed by a series of cries and shouts. Peter turned, shocked to see a fully venomnized Hulk tearing at them.

“Bug Squad, assemble!” Scott exclaimed.

“Scott, I swear to God!” Hope shot back. Peter, Mantis, Scott, and Hope held back the Hulk together. The Hulk roared and swatted at Hope as she flew over him, tiny again and pelting him with blasts from her blasters.

Peter took a swing at the Hulk and he caught his fist in his. “ **Puny insect**.” He spat in a low growl muffled by the symbiote.

“Um… knock knock?” Peter tried before the symbiote Hulk threw him at the nearest brick building, conveniently and painfully. He groaned, pushing himself up, “You know, I’m just going to take that as a ‘who’s there’?”

Peter flipped back as the Hulk crashed into the wall after him, running up the wall, “Cow says!” He gave a heavy sigh as he leapt and landed on the ground, “This is beginning to feel like a very one-sided knock knock joke.” He webbed the Hulk and gripped the end of the web, spinning around and hurling the him in the other direction, “Whatever, I’m gonna finish it anyways. Let’s just pretend like you’ve already said, ‘cow says who’? No! Cow says moo!” Peter burst and held out his arms comedically, hoping on the inside that he wasn’t about to be crushed by a venomized version of the Hulk.

The Hulk let out a grunt as he pulled himself out of the rubble and stared down Peter dauntingly. But much to Peter’s surprise, he then let out a light chuckle.

“ **Knock knock joke** …” He muttered, laughing and shaking his head.

“Woah, you actually liked the joke? Well… I’ll be here all week.” Peter replied humorously just before Mantis reached up to touch the Hulk’s head, the tips of her fingers glowing.

“Nice distraction kid!” Scott beamed. Peter was about to say something back when the combined infuriated roar of the Hulk and the symbiote broke out and Mantis would have been crushed had Hope not grown and pushed her out of the way.

“Hope!” Scott cried in anguish and Peter watched in horror as the Hulk pounded the spot in the ground where Hope had just been. Furious, Scott grew as tall as the building and kicked the Hulk as if he were a soccer ball. Unsure of what to do, Peter rushed to Mantis who was now crying and helped her up.

“We’ve gotta go.” Peter gently urged as she sobbed.

“She died because of me.” Her words were strained as she slowly raised her hand to where Scott was, “I can feel such remorse.”

“Oh no.” Peter muttered, turning to look at Scott, “If someone else doesn’t get hurt, he will.”

Mantis nodded, tears still swelling in her eyes, “It is very strong. As if something is amplifying it. Something like-, ah!” She gasped, swatting at something around her head. But Peter immediately knew what it was.

“Hope?!”

Hope reappeared next to them at her normal size and her helmet retracted into her suit. Her pale face revealed she was short of breath, “Man, that was scary. I think blacked out for a second.” She breathed, placing both hands on Mantis and Peter’s shoulders, “Are you two ok?”

Peter nodded, still shocked by her return and Mantis did too, tears still running down her face before pointing back up at Scott, “But he’s not.”

They all turned to see the Hulk launch himself back up and punch Scott across the helmet, sending him crashing into a building.

“Oh my God he’s gonna pass out if he stays that big for too much longer.” Hope replied with great worry as she stood up to go stop him, but Mantis grabbed her arm.

“It’s not that; we’re already too late.” Mantis looked up at her with great apprehension, “I can only feel someone when touching them. For me to be able to feel him from here, he’s got to be…”

Mantis was cut off by a confused cry from Scott as something inky and black swarmed over him and he stumbled back farther, trying and failing to pull it apart as it overcame him at his size.

“Possessed by a symbiote.” She finished grimly.

Hope’s face fell in dismay. Seemingly without a second thought she grew tiny again and flew towards him.

“We’ve gotta go help her!” Peter exclaimed, “Hold on!” He carefully picked up Mantis and used his webs to quickly get them to the scene.

Mantis squeezed his shoulder and pointed down at Scott as they sailed over the fight, “Drop me on top of him.”

“Um, are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine. Just try to hold off the green meanie so he doesn’t attack me while I try to free him.” She replied determinedly.

“Alright.” Peter brought her right over Scott and let her go, the breath caught in his lungs as she landed and then skidded as she lost her footing. Peter was just about to drop down to catch her when she clutched onto one of the antennas on Scott’s helmet. Mantis steadied herself, still gripping the antenna as she pressed her hand down against his helmet. Peter whipped around as he heard the Hulk coming at him and swung he himself straight into him. The Hulk was sent flying backwards down the street as Peter swung back around to the others.

“Scott!” A voice yelled from the top of a building. Hope stood with her hand stretched out at him.

Giant venomized Ant-Man stopped and turned towards her. Peter landed on the building, a few feet behind her in case something happened.

“You have to stop this!” She continued, “You can fight it!”

He tilted his head at her, and Mantis gasped, regaining her grip, “It’s working! Keep going!” She exclaimed.

“Come on Scott.” Hope tried again, a pang of desperation in her usually calm, controlled tone.

Scott slowly reached his hand out to her. Peter watched as a small smile and look of relief settled on her face. But he could feel his spider sense going off. Their hands nearly touched as Peter turned and instinctively held up his fists to fight whatever was behind him but was greeted with a face full of shield. Much to Peter’s horror, he saw that he had just been hit by a venomized Captain America. Until the others, he wasn’t black and white but instead his usual patriotic colors were smeared like ink. He flashed rows of terrifying, sharp teeth and a long slobbery pink tongue.

“No! Mr. Captain Steve America Rogers!” Peter exclaimed, shooting a web at him and sticking his hand to the ground. But then much to his surprise, he absorbed it and roared at him.

“That’s… not good.” He replied nervously.

The Captain America symbiote’s roared evoked the symbiote inside of Scott and it rose up around him as it fought to take over again. Then the Hulk symbiote crashed onto the roof next to them to make things more complicated.

“Um… Ms. Hope Wasp Van Dyne…?”

“Peter?” Hope replied as they stood back to back against the Captain America and Hulk symbiotes.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh, ok… What do we do?”

“You hold off Cap. I’ll get the Hulk.” Hope instructed.

“Ok!” The two fought off the symbiotes. Peter couldn’t see what was happening to Hope while he was slammed into the ground by the venomized Captain America. He gripped the shield that he thrust at him to stop it from penetrating his chest. 

He gritted his teeth as he held it back, “I can’t say I really like the new suit.”

He roared in his face and Peter turned his head as he felt the strands of spit soak through his mask, “Gross! Man, so cranky. Sorry for my fashion input.” Peter looked around for something he could use to help him, but instead his gaze fell on Scott who had turned one last time to Hope. She kicked the Hulk across the face in midair and hovered to look back at him.

It was so faint that Peter almost didn’t hear it, but for the last time, he heard Scott’s voice mutter, “I’m sorry.” Before the symbiote completely settled around him. 

The Hulk took the opportunity to grab Hope by the leg and swing her into the ground. He heard Mantis let out a yell of frustration, maybe in one final attempt to stop the symbiote. Peter watched as the life suddenly flew from her after a wave of exhaustion and she let go, falling off Scott and to the ground.

Peter began to panic, unsure of what to do as the force of the shield pressing into him began to numb his arms, but then remembered a story Sam had told him.

“Hey…” He began weakly, jerking his head to the left, “On your left.”

When the venomized Captain America looked over his shoulder, Peter brought his legs up under him and kicked him in the jaw. Still grasping the shield, he rolled back on the ground as the symbiote let go. When it charged at him, Peter sent a web flying at his face, blinding him and letting him run off the side of the roof as he stepped out of the way. He then threw the shield at the venomized Hulk, a defining gong sound rang out as it hit him in the head. During the distraction, Hope flew down to save Mantis. Peter’s spider sense went off again as the Hulk symbiote fumed at him before letting out a bloodcurdling roar. He could also hear a low growl in the distance, most likely the Captain America symbiote climbing up the wall.

Peter stood his ground, however, entirely unsure of what he was going to do next. There was no way he could win a fight between venomized versions of Hulk _and_ Captain America.

All the sudden, a huge figure landed on the roof behind him and Peter froze, unsure at first, but when it roared at the other two symbiotes he knew exactly who it was. Before he could even say anything, Venom grabbed him and carried him away.

“Hey, wait, no! Put me down! What are you doing? I have to help!” Peter exclaimed as Venom continued to swing away. Peter could have sworn he was using web shooters to do this, but unless one of the other spider kids had given him a pair, there was no way… 

He finally ducked into the shattered window of an apartment building. When he finally set him down, Venom transformed back into Eddie all except for the arm still glued to Peter.

“What am I doing? We’re saving your life!” Eddie replied in exasperation, “Don’t you see? We’re getting our asses beat out there. Half of everyone has been taken over by a symbiote.”

“That doesn’t mean we should be hiding out in an apartment! Now can you let me go?” Peter shot back.

Eddie raised his brow at him, “You’re gonna run back in there if I do.”

Peter sighed. He was right.

“Now, you wouldn’t happen to have a plan of how we’re going to not die, do you?”

Peter shook his head, “Well, actually, we don’t have to fully beat the symbiotes; we just need to make sure Doctor Strange and all the magic people can complete their spell.”

“Well, we’re unfortunately down about half a team.” Eddie replied grimly.

“Then we need to make sure everyone who’s not possessed by a symbiote is protecting the magic people from whoever is. Plus, every other symbiote out there.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” He replied sarcastically.

“Yeah… hey hold up a sec! You were web slinging us here, weren’t you?” Peter suddenly remembered.

Eddie smiled, “Is that what you call it? Well… yeah.”

“How?!”

“Venom picked up some tricks after being with you.” He replied, then paused in thought, “You know, he really is sorry for what he put you through. I just thought you should know that.”

Peter gave a small smile and nodded, “I know.”

“Alright, how do we get your Avengers friends down here? Or at least in one place? Everyone is kind of scattered at the moment.” Eddie continued thoughtfully.

“Hang on; I’ll test and see if the com system is still running.” Peter pressed his free hand to the communicator in his right ear, “Can anybody hear me? It’s Peter, Spider-Man.”

“Loud and clear, Kid.” Peter heard a familiar voice on the other side that he recognized to be Carol’s, “What’s up?”

Peter gave a brief sigh of relief before continuing, “We need to get everyone who hasn’t been possessed by a symbiote to protect the magic people so they can complete their spell!”

This time it was Sam’s voice, “Anyone who’s receiving this… meet at the old location of the original Avengers tower. This is urgent.”

“What is it?” Eddie asked as Peter’s face fell into a pale mess of concern.


	20. Chapter 20

“It’s so strange that this place is an office building now.” Vision muttered, glancing around the top floor of the old Avengers tower. Well, not exactly “Avengers”; just tower now.

Wanda nodded in agreement, “Seems kind of dead now, doesn’t it?”

“Is this everyone?” Natasha asked, sounding both anxious and a bit exhausted.

It was not a lot. A handful of Avengers, a few others, and the spider kids were still there. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Sam, Carol, Hope, Wanda, Vision, T’Challa, Shuri, Kamala, Jane, Eddie, Quentin, Miles, Gwen, Cindy, MJ and Peter. They were down almost half the team, not to mention all the Guardians. There was a series of very unsure, grim nods.

“Ok, not a great start to this.” She admitted, glancing out at the distorted sunset orange sky from outside the mirror dimension, clouded with smoke from chaotic, raging fires in the streets, “Wanda, what’s going on with the spell?”

Wanda sighed, “The plan is toast. We’re down Loki and Wong. I don’t believe we’ll be able to complete it with just two of us.”

“You mean one?” Everyone turned to look at Clint who shrugged with an unusually serious expression on his face, “What? Has anybody seen Strange since this all started?”

She gave a small gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. He had a point; if something had happened to Strange, not only would they not be able to get rid of the symbiotes, but they were also trapped in the mirror dimension. Everyone exchanged nervous glances.

Wanda finally began after a long silence, “When this first started, Stephen, Loki, Wong, and I had to space a good distance apart from each other for the spell to work so we each took a corner downtown. Then I set a protective shield around myself with my powers because I’m physical vulnerable to the symbiotes once I’m performing the spell. I reached out and felt Stephen, but I couldn’t find Loki or Wong.” She explained, then shuddered a little, “After that, a burst of lightning broke my shield and I found a symbiote fused with Thor. Not you Jane the other one.” Wanda replied to Jane’s confused expression, “The symbiotes seem to enhance our powers and abilities. Not to sound arrogant or anything, but since we’ve already lost Thor and Doctor Strange, if Carol, Jane, or I got taken over by one…” She sighed, “We might not have any hope left for this mission.”

“Yeah, and we’re also trapped here anyways, so we’re all gonna be taken over by a symbiote eventually.” Quentin replied matter-of-factly.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” T’Challa asked, slightly annoyed.

“Everyone, pump the brakes!” Gwen began and when everyone turned to her, she shifted a little, “Look, sorry. I know I’m not one of your ‘Avengers’ or whatever, but just because someone is fused with a symbiote doesn’t mean they’re stuck like that. I should know, I was for a second there. But,” She took Miles’s arm and raised it in the air, “We can do things that force the symbiotes to leave their hosts. Like, Miles can venom strike them!”

“They’re also sensitive to loud noises.” Peter added.

Eddie nodded, “And don’t forget about fire.”

Natasha exchanged a glance with Sam, “Well, we can definitely work with that.”

“And there’s still one more thing we can try…” A familiar voice came out of seemingly nowhere and Clint nearly jumped out of his skin as a portal sparked open behind him and Stephen stepped through.

“Doctor Strange!” Kamala beamed, “You haven’t been taken over by a symbiote!”

“Beautiful weather we’re having.” Wanda stated coolly, crossing her arms leaving everyone confused by her comment.

“Yes, but I always carry an umbrella.” Strange replied, then nodded to Kamala, “ _Now_ you know I haven’t been taken over by a symbiote. Nicely done, Wanda.”

“Code system. Smart thinking. We should have all done that before going into this.” Carol said.

“But, hold on,” Peter turned to Eddie, “Can’t symbiotes look at your memories, so they would just see the code?”

Before Eddie could reply, Venom’s head appeared over his shoulder, “ **Yes. We can.** ”

All of the Avengers who hadn’t been aware of Venom’s presence inside of Eddie gasped, pointing their weapons and raising their fists at Venom, who in response, surrounded Eddie and growled at them.

“Woah, woah, woah! Stop! He’s with us!” Peter exclaimed as he and the other spider-kids stood with him.

“But are we sure about that?” Quentin asked slyly, crossing his arms and turning to Peter, “I mean, he _is_ a symbiote. How can we be sure he would turn against his own kind?” He continued, making a great effort to sound overly innocent.

“ **For Eddie? Yes.** ” Venom replied in a deep growl.

He gave a stiff, unconvinced laugh, “I’m sure you would.”

“Venom’s different!” Peter stuck up, “He truly does want to help save Earth. More than you pretend to. You don’t know anything about him.”

“Oh, you’re right! And I forgot that you did.” Quentin gave a satisfied smirk from Peter’s silence, “You know, that’s got to be a look of stress on a sixteen-year-old. All you’ve been through, so unhealthy.” Peter snatched his wrist as he reached down to pat Peter’s head and he continued to glare at him before letting it go, “I honestly blame Stark.” He continued, rotating his wrist, “Getting you into all of this. It eventually led to you getting roped in with a symbiote. I hate to break it to you Peter, but I don’t think you know that thing either. I’m sure it was delighted, preying on your young, innocent mind. Maybe made you think a lot of things and I’m positive that it’s influence on you is far from done. Now it makes sense why you would be sticking up for it.”

“Shut up!” MJ barked, “You can’t fool anyone anymore Beck. We all know you are the villain here! What Peter is saying is true. We all know it. You just want to screw with us. That’s all you’ve ever tried to do because you can’t change.”

Quentin’s face flickered before he turned and stared MJ down, “One day you’re going to understand something. You don’t know anything. No one should trust a group of sixteen-year-olds as Avengers.”

“I trust them.” Carol spoke out, crossing Quentin, “And I’ve had to deal with a lot of people in my life telling me that I don’t understand. That I’m too stupid to know anything. And all I’ve got to say to you about that is you’re one to talk given your track record.” When Quentin remained silent, Carol continued, “Now, as long as we’re done playing the blame game, let’s actually do our job and save the world.”

“Wanda, Stephen, do you still think you can do your thing?” Sam asked.

Strange glanced at Wanda and nodded, “We’ll need to be even further apart to make sure we can cover all of Manhattan.”

“Then we’ll split into two teams. Wanda, you’ll say here with your team and we’ll take Stephen across the city. Try to undo the bond of anyone you run into but remember, be quick. The faster we get this done, the less time we have to risk anyone else getting possessed. Watch out for each other.” When Sam turned, Natasha and Clint where both staring at him contently, “What?”

“Nothing. Good job Cap.” Clint replied, patting him on the arm, “Alright, I’m not getting any younger let’s go already.”


	21. Chapter 21

Peter squinted in the light of the bright orange sun that had nearly finished setting in the distorted, glassy sky. Streetlights began to flick on, and the changes seemed to rustle the symbiotes more. Carol flew around outside, punching a giant venomized Ant-Man in the helmet and knocking him back. She was holding back any venomized Avengers from outside while half the Avengers stayed here to protect Wanda. The other half, Stephen, Peter, Shuri, T’Challa, Clint, Kamala, Miles, Gwen, and Venom would travel through one of Strange’s portals to get to the other side of the city in order to complete the spell.

“Portals work like doors. If we open them one way, whatever’s on the other side can also come through.” Strange explained before getting ready to open it, “That means more symbiotes might come slithering in here and try to stop Wanda.”

Sam, one of the ones staying behind with Wanda, nodded, holding up the shield, “Bring it.”

Strange gave a single nod of confirmation and turned to create the portal with a circle of his hand. As soon as it opened, symbiotes came spilling out. Strange winced as he struggled to keep it open. Peter stared back, unsure of what to do.

“Hurry!” Strange exclaimed and without thinking, Peter shut his eyes and raced through, pushing through the slime. Finally, he opened them on the other side and looked around. They seemed to be inside some sort of factory, but the atmosphere inside was warm and humid.

“Um… why does it look and feel like we’re inside someone’s intestines?” Gwen called out.

The ground beneath them gave a nauseating squish and in a strange way, Peter could almost feel the breathing or heartbeat of the room around them. Strange finally came through with an exhausted sigh and closed the portal, turning the already dim room into complete darkness.

“Does anybody have a flashlight?” Clint asked, “I can’t see a damn thing in here. Wait, what’s this?”

“That’s my face.” T’Challa replied slightly annoyed.

“Whoops. My bad.”

“If only one of us was wearing a pair of Sketchers… wait a sec.” Peter muttered, “I think I installed solar charged lining on this suit, let me just try to activate it and… there!” He exclaimed happily as his red and black suit lit up so they could see, but it was short lived because they were in a room entirely coated with squirming symbiotes.

“Eww! This is probably about the third grossest situation I’ve ever been in.” Miles groaned uncomfortably.

“What the hell is this?!” Clint exclaimed.

“That’s my shoulder.” T’Challa replied with the same tone as before, seemingly unfazed by any of this.

“Not that! I’m talking about how we’re in stomach of an alien!”

“No, this is more like… some sort of nest.” Gwen replied, glancing around, “These ones are smaller. They must be infant symbiotes. This must be where they’re keeping their young.”

“Can they even reproduce that fast?” Shuri asked, “They just got here.”

“Apparently. They’re a weird species.” Eddie, who had turned back into himself, replied. He then added, “No offense.” Probably to Venom.

Peter’s communicator buzzed to life in his ear followed by an urgent sounding MJ, “They’ve got Wanda! There must have already been a symbiote inside her. The symbiotes are overrunning everything and breaking in from the outside too!”

“Oh no.” Gwen breathed. They all turned to Doctor Strange who appeared to be in deep contemplation.

“Alright. There is a backup plan in place. But you must understand that if we use it, we’re all in grave danger.” Strange began.

Miles shot his arm out in the direction of the window sealed by symbiotes, “Is this not already dangerous?”

Stephen shrugged, “That’s a fair point.” He stepped over the symbiotes and up the seemingly un-seeable staircase. His sentient, cherry red cloak lifted itself up so as to not touch them, “Come on.”

“Um, ok? Care to explain?” Clint asked as they followed him up the dark, tight stairwell.

“As a last resort, Wanda, Wong, Loki, and I each carried a crystal extracted from the quantum realm. If worst came to worst, we agreed that the power radiating from the crystals could be used to open the dark dimension and send the symbiotes there. If only one of us was left standing, we gave permission to drain each other’s life forces in order to do it. Of course, there is no telling that we won’t all be sucked in too, so we’ll half to stick together until I can close it.” He explained.

“Hold up. If your ‘life force’ is drained, how are you going to shut it?” Gwen asked curiously.

“I’ll be closing it from the inside.” Strange replied.

Peter gasped, “No! You’ll be trapped in there! There’s gotta be another way.”

“The mirror dimension will then automatically open on its own.” He assured.

“I’m not leaving you here!” Peter exclaimed, “That’s not happening!”

He could hardly see Strange, his face just faintly highlighted by the light Peter’s suit, but he definitely expected Strange to turn around and appear annoyed at him for being stubborn. But when he did, he almost looked… sad.

“Peter, that’s very kind. But this is like the time stone. We don’t have time to spare lives for something this important.”

“You traded the stone to save Tony! I can’t just let you die!” Peter felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see it was Miles. His mask was pulled up and his face was full of understanding. Surely, as the Spider-Man from another dimension, he did understand.

Strange sighed, “It’ll be ok.” Peter wanted to believe him. He truly did. But he was having trouble doing so.

“T’Challa, quite stepping on my foot.” Shuri complained.

“I’m not stepping on your foot. I’m over here. And you’re standing next to whichever Spider-person is glowing, so you should know.”

“Peter’s actually the one who’s glowing.” Kamala pointed out.

“Thanks Kamala.” Peter smirked, joking taking it as a compliment on appearance rather than the fact that he was literally glowing.

“Well, I meant… actually sure.” She rolled her eyes.

Gwen let out an ‘ow’, “Miles! Stop shoving your elbow in my ribs.”

“I’m sorry! It’s super cramped in here!”

“Hey, basically all of you guys expect me can heal yourselves, right?” Shuri asked the group, “Does that mean you could, like, straight up consume an entire box of Tide Pods?”

Peter gasped, “I never thought of that! Alright, I’m trying that with Ned so he can record me once this is all over.” Miles, Gwen, and Kamala all laughed at this.

Eddie whipped around at them, “Are you fuc-, ugh kids, freaking insane? You’re not actually going to eat laundry detergent, are you?”

“You’re right. We can do better. What if we made an energy smoothie out of Redbull and those 5 Hour Energy thingys?” Shuri suggested.

“And if you put in a whole jar of Flintstone gummies, then I’m at least ninety percent positive you could levitate.” Peter agreed.

“Well, I’m one hundred percent positive that it would kill you before it could happen.” T’Challa replied causally.

Miles shrugged, “Or we could levitate.”

Kamala nodded in agreement, “That’s definitely a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Ok, everyone be quiet. This could be an attack.” Strange looked at Clint, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all, Doc.” Clint replied as he pushed the door at the end of the staircase slightly ajar and he pulled back an arrow. Then he let it fly. A series of shrieks came from the other side as the arrow flew through, “Lovely.” He muttered sarcastically.

“Get ready.” Strange said as he pushed the door open all the way and they rushed out. Peter was a little shocked to find that they were now on the roof, plus the sun had now completely set.

“You know, I’d be a lot more thankful that I can breathe now if I wasn’t about to die.” Kamala exclaimed while punching a symbiote across the face.

“Don’t let them get to Strange!” T’Challa shouted above the roars of the symbiotes as he sliced through them.

Peter couldn’t watch as Stephen began the very thing that was going to be his sacrifice. He got in his stance in the center of the roof and held out his hands on either side of him. A glossy dome of orange magic surrounded him, and his eyes closed in concentration. Peter knew it had to be done and only he could do it, but he also didn’t want to watch another person close to him go away. On that note, a blast singed his shoulder and he swore as he clasped his hand on it. When he looked up, he saw exactly what he had been dreading.

“Oh my God! Iron Man’s been venomized!” Kamala exclaimed, pointing up at where he hovered in the sky.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter breathed. The symbiote was black with white ink mimicking his face plate. Black spikes stuck out on the shoulders and legs of his armor. The long, snake-like tongue and vicious white eyes made him terrifying to look at, “No…” Then the symbiote began to fire at him, “Mr. Stark! It’s Peter!” He cried as he leapt up to avoid the repulsor blasts, attaching his webs to him and then pulling himself down hard and fast, feet first into the symbiote and propelled himself off of him, knocking the Iron Man symbiote backwards, “I know you can hear me!”

“Clint no!” Shuri exclaimed, blasting a venomized Hawkeye to keep him for attacking Strange. They were already running out of time.

The symbiote formed a mace around Tony’s fist and he struck Peter in the gut, sending crashing into the ground.

“Ow, my stomach.” He moaned, “…And my feelings.”

His eyes widened as he came racing back down, but Peter grabbed a large, metal pole lying on the side of the roof with his webs held it in front of him, so that the venomized Iron Man’s charged repulsor hand hit it instead. Peter thrust him over to his side and stood up, now holding the pole in front of him like a wand.

“Expecto Pantronum!” He yelled, then glanced down at it disappointedly, “Aw man. I kinda wanted to see what my patronus was. Pottermore said it was a white terrier, but I don’t know-, hey!” He almost hit Peter again with his repulsor, but he dodged just in time, “Alright, let’s see if this will work as a lightsaber then.” Peter swung at him with the pole and hit him in the side but when he went to hit again, the Iron Man symbiote caught it in his fist and snapped it in half. Peter blinked, “Come on! Star Wars failed me too?!”

“ **Less talking more fighting**!” Venom snarled at him.

“Wait a sec…” Peter muttered, remembering what Tony had said to him about pop culture references when they first met Doctor Strange, “More talking might just be what we need! Hey, we were in this room a second ago where the symbiotes were crawling all over the walls and it was totally like something out of Men in Black!”

Venomized Iron Man continued to attack, but Peter fought back and continued, “You know that booger looking green guy from Ghostbusters? I totally saw a symbiote a second ago that looked just like him!”

“ **Stop**!” The Iron Man symbiote growled at him.

“Hey! I’ve meaning to tell you about this show called Miraculous Ladybug I saw on Netflix and the main character is kind of a low key rip off of me but I’m not really mad about it. She’ll do something like this and goes all high pitch like, ‘ _MIRACULOUS LADYBUG_ ’!” He yelled in an overly obnoxious voice while doing a high kick that knocked the venomized Iron Man back. It was a moment before he got back up again. Peter rushed to his side and the symbiote began to fade back into Tony, revealing his face once again, however, his veins were still highlighted in black.

“Kid.” He began, his voice airy but a small smile cracked at his lips, “I don’t wanna hear another pop culture reference for the rest of the-,”

“You’re back!” Peter exclaimed, squeezing him tightly in a hug.

“Peter, get away from me!” Tony yelled and Peter stumbled back, hurt, until he realized why. The symbiote was rising up around him again and taking control.

“Mr. Stark!” He cried, feeling like he was watching helpless, unsure of what to do and scared of losing him again, “I can save you!”

“ **No, you can’t**!” The symbiote roared and Tony gasped one more time for air.

“Peter…” He glanced at him in a way that seemed fatherly and lovingly, “Tell… Pepper…” But then he was gone.

“No!” Peter exclaimed, turning in desperation, “Miles! I need your help! We can save him! We just have to-,” He was cut off with a loud ‘oof’ as the symbiote’s arm stretched out and shoved him against the ventilation shaft. He felt a grip tighten around his neck as the symbiote pulled him back into his hand. The warmth of the repulsor charged hummed against his throat. He struggled to break free and as soon as he thought it was the end, there was a loud thud against the ground behind him. The Iron Man symbiote dropped Peter to the ground and he watched as Venom came to his rescue, grabbing the venomized Iron Man and throwing him far off to the side of the roof.

“Thanks for saving me.” Peter smiled as he sat up and Venom flashed him a large, toothy smile. Peter then turned his head to see venomized Hawkeye continuing to fight Shuri and Gwen while a newly venomized Black Panther had Miles in his grasp.

“Miles!” Peter exclaimed, swinging into the Black Panther symbiote and knocking him off of Miles.

“Thanks man.” He replied, then glanced around, “This really isn’t going too great, is it?”

Before Peter could respond, they both snapped in the direction of the sound of a strangled cry from Kamala who they both saw was struggling against a symbiote attaching itself to her limbs. “Hold on!” Miles called as they raced to her. Peter instinctively held up his arm against the venomized Black Panther about to pounce on them from behind, but Venom leapt in front of him and began to fight him off.

“Come on, Kamala, fight it!” Peter urged, it already looked like it was no use. She slowly stopped resisting and soon it morphed over her face.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered before the inky blackness completely took over. Wisps of the symbiote hung off the ends of her scarf and she towered over them, flexing her long, sharp claws.

“This just keeps getting better.” Miles muttered sarcastically. Venomized Ms. Marvel screamed and attacked him. Just as Peter rushed in to help, he saw out of the corner of his eye something flying as fast as a missile towards Strange.

“Oh no you don’t!” He exclaimed, webbing the venomized Iron Man and gripping the end of the web like a rope to pull him back.

“Hey, whenever you guys get the chance, it would be nice if someone could help me out here. You know, just because it seems a little unfair that I’m handling two of them while you all get one.” Gwen said, leaping through the air and attacking in a series of kicks, punches, and webs.

“Two?” Sure enough, Peter turned his head to see that Shuri had now joined the symbiote army too, “Come on already!” He gave a frustrated yell before spinning the web around, causing the Iron Man symbiote to spin around in the air, and then quickly pulling him into the ground. Peter felt his spider-sense go off and turned as venomized Ms. Marvel kicked him back with her embiggened foot.

“Ow! Kamala!” He exclaimed, then winced in pain as an incredibly strong sonic blast was forced on him, “Somebody… protect… Strange…” He said through gritted teeth as venomized Shuri kept him on the ground with an agonizing frequency from her repulsors. Peter watched in a haze as a symbiote slithered up to him, and as much as the effort hurt, feeling a series of electrical shocks from his wrist as he moved it, he shot a web, trapping the small symbiote.

Finally, the frequency stopped, and Peter body went limb, his limbs numb. Gwen tackled venomized Shuri and left her roaring, her arms and legs webbed against the wall.

“Alright, get up.” She held out her hand to Peter and he helped him stand up. He noticed she had a nasty slash across her thigh and blood was slowly streaming down her leg.

“Gwen! Is that gonna be ok?”

“I think that might be the least of our concerns.” Gwen replied, pointed up at something in the sky surrounded by a red haze.

“Is that…?” Peter gasped, “Wanda?”

A red symbiote had coated itself around the Scarlet Witch, matching the trench coat she always wore but instead of red, it was black. The symbiote also displayed long, wild black hair. Suspended in the air above her that she held up with her telekinesis was a large ball that appeared to be squirming.

“She’s carrying a whole mob of symbiotes.” Gwen realized, “She’s gonna drop a bomb on us.”


	22. Chapter 22

“We gotta protect Strange!” Peter exclaimed.

Gwen stared at him like he had lost his mind, “From a bomb?! We’re not going to stand a chance!”

“We have to try! Come on!” The remaining, Peter, Gwen, Miles, and Venom, surrounded Strange with their backs to him as the fought what was already on ground level. Gwen was right; how could they possible stop a bomb that was hanging right over their heads?

“ **Here we go**.” Venom said as the Scarlet Witch symbiote released it.

“Whaddowedo?!” Miles exclaimed, panicked.

“I… I don’t know.” Peter replied breathlessly, feeling himself swaying a bit in his spot. What could they do to possibly even survive this? Just then, Strange’s eyes snapped open and he reached up. A large, orange force field hung in the air above them acting as a magic umbrella.

“Yes!” Miles exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air and then across the venomized Hawkeye’s face.

“Hold on.” Gwen held her ground as the symbiotes slithered around off the side of it, and then underneath the shield after them.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Peter continued to fight, but they were soon overwhelmed.

“Wait! I have an idea!” Miles jumped, reaching up to the force field lightly touching it with the tips of his fingers. A burst of electricity shocked the symbiotes in a chain reaction.

“Yes! Awesome Miles!” Gwen beamed.

It seemed that Peter, Gwen, and Miles regained their confidence as they continued the fight alongside Venom. They were actually winning against the venomized superheroes as they worked together. For a brief moment, Peter had hope again and let out a victorious “woo hoo”, believing that there was nothing a couple spider people from various dimensions couldn’t do. But only for a very brief moment that was too shorty lived.

Strange suddenly doubled over and fell to his knees. Peter whipped around in shock.

“Doctor Strange!” He exclaimed, rushing to help him up by carefully taking his arm, his spirit filling with dread, “Are you ok?”

“Change of plans.” He began. His eyes were unfocused and he did not sound like himself, “Wanda attacked. Her crystal was somehow removed. There’s no way to open the dark dimension now. But maybe… we won’t have to.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter asked, but Strange simply shook his head.

“No, that last one… wasn’t… me…” He gasped.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Miles asked.

Peter nodded, “Yeah! Come on, you’ve always known what to do! There are backup plans to your backup plans!”

Strange looked up to Peter one last time, “Not… this… time…”

He gasped as Strange finally closed his eyes, his face taken over by a great unsettling conflict and an inky, deep maroon came over him. Peter stumbled back as venomized Doctor Strange shot up, hovering in the air with his magnificent, ripped red cloak that billowed behind him.

“ **BEHOLD! THE SYMBIOTE SUPREME!** ” The symbiote boomed.

Peter froze at the sight, his mind racing. He remained paralyzed as the Symbiote Supreme stretched out his arms and in a burst of power, they were surrounded in a spear of dark red magic. The Scarlet Witch symbiote flew down from the air and joined him, as well as the rest of the symbiotes on the roof that took a stand near him. Venomized Iron Man joined him at his other side. Parts of the building began to fly apart into the air, and Peter began to feel himself being pulled into a whirlwind. He faintly heard someone calling his name, but the sight of all the people he looked up to, his mentor and his teammates turned against him with gnashing teeth and devilish tongues kept him still in submission. It was until Venom had decided it was too much and grabbed Peter, Miles, and Gwen in his arms and swung them away from the scene. Peter slowly watched those they had left behind fade away as Venom carried them off. But there was nothing he could do.

Venom finally set them down in an alleyway far away from the fight where there seemed to be less symbiotes and where Peter finally snapped out of his shock.

“We have to go back!” He shouted, “We can’t just leave them!”

Gwen spun a web over her leg as a bandage while Venom morphed back into Eddie again, “Don’t you get it? There’s no going back for them. They’re already gone.” Eddie replied.

“We can still save them!”

“But what about all of us? Be realistic, the four of us aren’t going to win against an army of venomized Avengers! What if you get killed? What if Miles gets killed? What if Gwen gets killed? How many times am I gonna drag your ass out of another situation like that?” Eddie rolled his eyes, most likely for Venom, “I’m sorry, _we_.”

“You’re not going to have to do it anymore.” Peter replied sternly, “Look, my friends are up there! I can’t just leave them to an army of symbiotes. And if it takes me until my last fighting breath to keep them and everyone else who hasn’t been venomized yet safe, then that’s fine! I’m going to keep doing it, because it’s the right thing.”

Eddie nodded, “Alright.”

“And if you think you can talk me out of… wait did you just agree with me?”

“Yeah, I was just trying to make a point.” He shrugged, “I’m not your parent so I’m not going to try and stop you from doing anything.”

“Do you guys think we’re really the only ones left?” Miles asked. None of them truly responded, only with a long silence as the dauting thought settled over Peter, looking out on the overrun city.

“Well, not quite.” A voice replied from overhead and they all looked up to see Cindy waving down at them alongside MJ, “What’s up guys?”

“Cindy! MJ! You guys aren’t venomized.” Gwen said, relived.

“Barely. Symbiote plus Scarlet Witch equals us getting our butts kicked. Not mention that meant us losing a lot more.” Cindy replied.

MJ enveloped Peter in a hug, then grasped his shoulders, “You ok?”

“Yeah, I mean, this could all about a thousand times better.” He sighed, “We lost Doctor Strange.”

MJ’s face fell, “So that means…”

“We’re completely screwed? Yeah, pretty much.” Gwen finished.

“Are you ok?” Peter asked MJ.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m pretty good for the most part. This is all very high adrenaline based, not to mention kind of stressful. But, wow, this is crazy. Good crazy. Well, maybe not all good crazy but in a weird way… I kinda like it.” She replied, “Ned’s gonna be pissed he missed out.”

“Hey, so, quick question: if the Doctor dude is gone, then how are we getting out of here?” Cindy asked.

Peter swore, “I didn’t even think of that!”

“There’s gotta be something else we can do. Even with just us.” Miles said.

“Well, not exactly “just us”. I mean, I think Wasp was still around somewhere and Falcon America and that one Mysterio dude, I’m sorry but I’m just gonna call him Jake Gyllenhaal because that’s who he looks like from my dimension. Oh! Also, Jane Thor Foster and Captain Marvel…” Cindy pointed out.

“Wait, we still have Thor and Captain Marvel?!” Peter pressed hopefully.

“Yeah!” Cindy beamed just before a bolt of lighting followed by a shriek flew overhead in a flash of black, “… We still have Captain Marvel.” She corrected herself.

“Hey, that could still help us.” Gwen replied.

Eddie nodded, “Do you have any idea where you last saw them?”

“Yeah. They’re still holding the fort at the old Avengers tower. Something about sending out a signal.” MJ commented, “We got separated from them after Scarlet Witch went symbiote crazy.”

“Will a signal even reach out in here?” Miles wondered aloud.

Cindy shrugged, “I’d say anything’s worth a shot at this point.”

Peter nodded in agreement, “Alright then, let’s go find them.” Peter, MJ, Miles, Gwen, Cindy, and Eddie who had turned back in Venom swung across the city to the old Avengers tower once again. They entered through a window that had been smashed in. The inside looked as if everything had been washed out and painted a dark grey.

“Hello?!” Cindy called into the dark silence and they all shushed her.

“There might be some not-so-friendlies that we don’t want to let know we’re here.” Gwen whispered as they slowly made their way through the tower.

Peter could hear water trickling from a burst pipe, but other than that, there was an eerie silence. As they crept through the tower, he brought up his fists in front of him defensively. A faint smell of gas hung in the air. MJ turned on her phone flashlight as the room got darker the further they went in. They found office cubicles torn apart with slashes cut through the doors as well as turned-over printer tables. Peter winced as his spider sense began to alert him of something.

Suddenly, he was grabbed and pulled into one of the cubicles, and a series of blasts sailed across the room. Everyone let out surprised yells and screams as the blasts impacted a symbiote hanging on the corner where the roof met the wall.

“Kid?!” Peter finally turned his head to see who had such a strong grip on him. He saw Sam and he finally let him go, “You guys are ok! We thought you were, you know…”

“Yeah! Us too! Um… who’s we?” He asked.

Before he could respond, Hope grew to her full size on the other side of them in the archway of the cubical, “I’m glad it’s just you guys. We heard a noise and thought that maybe it was one of the symbiote Avengers.”

Sam nodded, then sighed, “Yeah, well I think Carol’s been left alone with Beck and transmitting the signal long enough. Let’s go check on her.”

“Trust me, with Carol, Beck would be disintegrated before he could cause any trouble.” Hope assured him. But just as they set off to the staircase, Carol came back down followed by Quentin.

“See? I told you guys it was no use. We’re stuck here. Nothing’s coming in and certainly nothing’s coming out.” He said frustratedly.

Hope sighed, “It was worth a shot though.”

“Now what do we do?” Cindy asked, glancing between them all.

Sam simply shook his head, “Any last ideas Danvers?” They all turned to see she had her hand pressed against the window on the opposite side of them, a great deal of conflict painted on her face, “…Danvers?” Sam tried again as they cautiously approached her.

She in took a long, deep breath, “I think you should leave.” She said quietly.

Peter had seen too many people taken over by symbiotes today, all of them acting strange before they revealed it. Hope must have too, for she gave a disappointed sigh before saying as calmly as she could, “Carol, listen to me. You have to fight it. We’ve got no other choice-,”

“ **No**!” Came out Carol’s voice merged with the symbiote’s as she fired a blast that shot Hope backwards. She didn’t get up off the ground this time. Carol looked down at her own hands in horror.

Venom turned on Quentin in rage, “ **You did this, didn’t you?! You must have seen the symbiote infiltrate her while the other two left you alone and you did nothing to stop it!** ”

“How many times to I have to tell you?! I don’t want to watch these guys take over Earth! If anything, as much as it pains me to say it, I’m trying to help you!” He shouted back.

“This isn’t helping anything!” MJ exclaimed, standing between them, “Both of you stop this right now!”

“I… can’t… fight… it…” Carol cried, clutching her head.

“Carol, you might be the only one who can fight it.” Sam urged her, “Come on!”

“Carol, we need you! We’re not leaving you here!” Peter said desperately.

She smiled despite the pain, “You’re a good kid. There’s a lot in you. Use it when it’s your turn to save the day.” Peter didn’t quite understand what she meant, but with the sudden change in her demeanor, he knew they were out of time. 

“Miles! Venom strike! Hurry!” Gwen called but just as Miles shot the web, it simply hovered in the field of radiating energy around Carol and she swatted it away. Black and sunset orange slime seemed to weave itself around Carol, mimicking the star on her suit, but it all stopped at her face.

Sam continued to stare back at her until he finally nodded, “Alright, come on.” He instructed them, helping Hope up and supporting her with her arm around his shoulders, but Peter could hardly hear with the way his spider sense was pounding in his head.

“Carol!” Hope yelled again as they all turned the other way to leave.

This only conflicted Carol more as she shook her head and then let out a bloodcurdling scream as the symbiote finally covered her face and flashed its long, sharp teeth. The symbiote even copied her mohawk she had with her helmet on and began to glow a deep orange around Carol, brighter and brighter until Peter realized what was coming.

“Run!” Sam yelled, but it was too late. Venomized Captain Marvel released the energy like a bomb and knocked the majority of them unconscious from the scorching heat. They were all hurled outside, smashing through the glass of the widow in the explosion. In seemingly slow motion, Peter watched as the building burst from the outside. His teammates and friends on either side of him seemed suspended in the air for a moment before falling all those stories with him. He couldn’t move and his thoughts were beginning to lag and become muddy, all expect for the ones involving executing a plan to save MJ and everyone. But before any of that could have every happened, the painful impact of the roof of another building he crashed onto and then rolled off of finally plunged him into unconsciousness.


	23. Chapter 23

Peter slowly blinked awake. The pain rebooted throughout him and he groaned in the agony, trying to turn on his side but let out a yelp as the pain shocked him like a hundred spikes sticking through his side. He was positive he had some broken bones, but his powers and somewhat broken landing must have kept the fall from killing him.

“MJ?” He wheezed weakly, then coughed up blood, “Miles? …Gwen? …Cindy?” Another coughing attack which made his head scream, “Eddie? … Venom?”

He managed to feel his spider sense through the static in his head. Dread rose up through him as he heard the sickening growl of symbiotes grow closer around him. All he could do was watch as the host-less symbiotes surrounded him, slithering towards him. He squinted and saw something else too. A venomized Peter Quill approached him, aiming his blaster at him. His eyes widened in panic and tried to move backwards, each motion was an increasing intensity of pain, but there was no way to move fast enough.

Just then, a series of gunshots rang out and Peter gasped, losing his balance in his supporting arms and falling to the ground again. He covered his head with his hands and was surprised when not a single one of the bullets hit him, instead causing the host-less symbiotes to shriek and slither away. The Star Lord symbiote turned furiously and roared at the attacker. That was when Peter realized he was being rescued.

“Hey Peter! Leave Peter alone!” A voice called. It was hard for Peter to get a good look at him, but he watched as a figure in a red and black combat suit drew two swords. He was certainly had the strangest way of using them. Perhaps he was used to how incredibly skillful Gamora, Valkyrie, and Clint were. It seemed he didn’t take anything too seriously.

“Hey, hey! Woah, time out! Pratt, hold this for me.” The figure held out a small circular device and placed it in the symbiote’s hand. Peter raised his brow. It looked like…

He gave a two-finger salute before taking off, “Thanks!”

The grenade blew up in the venomized Star Lord’s face. He let out an enraged cry as he stumbled back, rubbing his eyes.

The figure laughed, “Ah, stupid symbiote. Wait! Dammit!” He exclaimed as the symbiote lurched at him, shoving him into the ground and roaring in his face, beads of saliva dripping on him, “Oh, now that’s just disgusting.” He held up his gun to his face and shot the symbiote in the mouth. Peter gasped, expecting to see the worse, but the symbiote simply spit out the bullet.

“Well. Now I only moderately regret this.” The figure shrugged, “Alright, let’s get mental!” He let out a surprised grunt as the venomized Star Lord sent his own sword straight through him, then stepped back.

“No!” Peter cried, trying to reach him but couldn’t.

However, the figure looked down at the sword and pulled it from his abdomen, amused, “Wow. Now that was just rude. If symbiotes had balls, they would totally be sliced off by now!” He exclaimed, running at the symbiote who was, not to mention, definitely a good foot taller than him. Then he spun through the air and sliced at him with both swords. The symbiote sliced back viciously, then managed to cut off his hand. The hand and the sword it grasped clattered to the ground.

“Woah, ok. Very Darth-Vader-Empire-Strikes-Back of you. Just as long as you don’t reveal you’re my father then I’m ok with that. Actually, even if you did, that would be weird but my dad was an asshole so… hey, maybe that might explain some things-, HEY!” He exclaimed as the symbiote took the sword from his still attached hand and snapped it in two. He let out a very long, over dramatic gasp as he brought his free hand over where his mouth would be under his mask in shock. 

“How _dare_ you! Now you are an asshole! Just like my dad! Look, you can slice off my hand, turn my own sword against me, but you just _murdered_ my second favorite sword! That sword was like a child too me! You murder Kyle! You bitch, you murdered Kyle! _KYLE_! I will avenge you Kyle!” He cried, picking up the other sword on the ground, “Come on Kevin. It is time murder the man who murdered your brother.” He let out a long shout, slicing at the now confused symbiote. Once the symbiote began to fight back, he immediately had the figure’s back against the wall. Literally.

A flow of host-less symbiotes also streamed down the wall around him and he held up his hands in defense, “Alright. As you can see, I am clearly saying no. And you symbiotes legally can’t enter my body without my consent. Kapeesh?” He gave a long sigh as the symbiotes didn’t stop, “Alright, I’m murdering all you slimy boogers. Starting his you!” He yelled, charging at the Peter Quill symbiote. As he attacked, he kicked him in the groin and the symbiote gave a high-pitched shriek before doubling over.

“Oh! Oh my gosh, I did not know that was going to-,” He was cut off before another cry of pain from the symbiote, “Ooh… now I feel slightly bad. I’m just gonna leave you…” He nodded awkwardly before turning away, “Yeah alright I’m going.”

Apprehension rose in Peter as the figure approached him, holding out a gun. But he couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief as he shot the pavement behind him.

“Hey, hey! Shoo! Get away from him you little motherfu-, I mean,” He sighed, “Mothertruckers. Ugh, I hate the no f-bomb rule. Serious? How come this author’s gonna be such a goody-two-shoes about the Archive of Our Own rating system? Just the other day, I read a work on here that was super smut-y and dropped the f-bomb no less than about twenty times _and_ it was rated general audiences. So, ease up! I know you’re treating this thing like a PG-13 MCU movie but _still_!” He let out a long sigh before kneeling down next to Peter, “Sorry about that. Just getting pissed at the author. She doesn’t like the f-word very much.”

Peter winced as he propped himself up, but the pain was very slowly beginning to diminish. He saw the person who saved him was a lot taller than he was and was wearing a black and red suit with a mask, the white eyes on it similar to his own. Maybe he was a spider person from another dimension. His suit was heavily padded around him, and he had a large belt with lots of pockets holding weapons and explosives.

“Who are you?” Peter asked faintly.

He beamed, “I am your absolute biggest fan!”

“Wh-what?” He stammered.

“Yeah! Spidey, you’re the best! Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“I’m confused… ow, ow!” Peter yelped as he tried to help him up.

“Ok, ok, um…” He turned, searching for something just as the Star Lord symbiote roared in fury again, pouncing at them, “I’m really sorry!” He yelled, picking up Peter and carrying him bridal style as pain shot through him, “Stay away from Spidey!” He called after the symbiote, then skidding to a stop in an alley, “Hmm, this is embarrassing but I don’t remember where I parked it. Let’s see.” He shifted Peter’s weight into his other arm while searching his pocket for a pair of keys.

Peter noticed that his hand was abnormally small, but then it occurred to him that that was the same hand that had been chopped off.

“Your hand!” He gasped.

“Yeah, I can grow back body parts.” He replied causally, pressing a button on the keys that set off an alarm, “Gotcha!”

“Wow! That’s really cool!”

“Hell yeah it is.” He replied coolly, rushing over to the sound of the alarm, “Almost there.” However, he stopped as the symbiote leapt overhead and blocked their path to the yellow taxicab. But even the symbiote froze, overwhelmed by the loud noise of the car. “Alright, that’s a good murderous symbiote.” He said as he slowly carried Peter around and placed him in the passenger seat of the taxi, fastened the seat belt, and carefully closed the door. But by then the symbiote had snapped out of its daze. He took his gun and repeatedly fired at Star Lord heavily as he made his way around the car. The venomized Star Lord reached for him but at the last moment, he leapt through the window on the driver’s side of the car.

“Wait, what are you going?!” Peter exclaimed, panicked as he tried to wriggle his way in through the window, “Couldn’t you have just opened the door?”

“Well, of course I could have! But now my ass is stuck in a window!” He shot back.

“But it wouldn’t have been if you…” Peter sighed, “Never mind.”

He had one of his legs in the window, but the symbiote on the outside had grabbed his other. He turned the key in the car and his foot hit the gas. Immediately, the tires screeched as they sped towards the brick wall.

“Woah!” Peter gasped, grabbing the wheel and steering it away, onto the road. That had also shaken off the symbiote, allowing the man who had saved him to pull his leg in and drive.

“Thanks. That got hairy.” He groaned and Peter looked behind to see the symbiote was in pursuit of them, “Hold on.” He sped up and steered hard to the left.

“Who are you?” Peter asked again.

“I already told you, I’m your biggest fan!”

“No, I mean, what’s your real name?” He clarified.

“Oh! Why didn’t you just ask? By day, I’m Wade Wilson. And by night… I’m also Wade Wilson. But also by day and night, I also go by…” He gave a maniacal laugh before continuing in a deep voice, “Deadpool.”

“Deadpool?”

“Yes.” Wade replied as if Peter was asking him a question and not questioning his name out loud.

Peter shook his head, “No, not that, I meant… your superhero name is Deadpool?”

“Yessir. Well, _technically_ I’m a mercenary, you know, the merc with a mouth. You’ve probably never heard of that though.” He said.

“Um… no. Wait, so you’re a mercenary? You haven’t, like, come to kill me or kidnap me or something, right?”

Wade hummed, “Mm, not likely. In my mind, we’re friends. See?” He reached back and pulled out a scrapbook from the backseat of the taxi. He set it on Peter’s lap. It was opened to a page with a poorly drawn picture of himself and Spider-Man playing ping pong.

His eyes widened in surprise, “Mr. Wilson sir. Your stalking skills are impressive.”

“Thanks, but it’s Wade or it’s Deadpool. I might let Mr. Pool slide once because I could get at least one good laugh out of that, but if it’s used more than once, then that’s a no.”

“Oh ok. I’m sorry… Wade…” Peter replied.

“Nah, you’re good. You know, I’ve just gotta say, you are adorable! I thought it was cool at first that Tom Holland actually looked sixteen, you know, your actual cannon age. But you are actually the cutest thing on the planet! I haven’t even known you for thirty minutes and I already want to adopt you!”

“Wade!” Peter gasped, pointing straight out the window at Mysterio standing in the middle of the street, who they were speeding towards.

Wade and Peter both screamed as he slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt, but not before hitting a startled Quentin, knocking him down. Lucky, Peter didn’t believe the hit was fatal since they hadn’t run over him.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.” Peter repeated muttered as he tore off his seat belt and he and Wade raced out of the taxi.

“Oh my God I think I just killed Jake Gyllenhaal…” Wade muttered nervously as Peter shook his unconscious form on the ground to wake him up, “That doesn’t look good…”

“Whose Jake?” Peter asked, confused.

Quentin groaned, blinking awake, “Ow. My everything hurts.”

“Hey! I didn’t kill him!” Wade laughed, pumping his fist in the air and then pausing, “Wait a second, what am I tripping for? This is a fanfiction! Of course you weren’t going to die!”

“What?” He glared at Wade.

“Hey, I forgot for a second you’re a bad guy here! Well, remember when you hit Peter with a train in Far From Home? Consider this payback! Now you got hit by a taxi!” He yelled.

“Well, in that case, I feel like the train would hurt more.” Quentin replied.

Peter crossed his arms, “Yeah, it did.”

Wade shrugged, “Yeah, I should probably hit him again.”

“No!” Peter and Quentin shouted at the same time.

“Wait, but how did you survive the fall?” Peter turned on him again.

He gave a heavy sigh, “Wasp saved me. She lowered me onto the roof of a building, but then the War Machine symbiote flew behind and shot her in the back, causing her wings to stop working. A twenty-story fall should have killed a normal person with no powers. Every bone looked like it was broken in her body and there was a symbiote right there so… I let it take over. She would have died if I didn’t.” Was there maybe guilt in his voice?

He considered this for a moment, “I believe you.” Peter finally replied. Even though he was hesitant about ever believing him again, the pained look in his eyes he was trying to hide made him believe that he was telling the truth.

“Peter!” A voice called and he turned to see MJ running towards him. They hugged tightly, the pain numbing through his bones and then being replaced by a heartwarming sensation.

“Aww. Now there’s some soft spideychelle content.” Wade beamed, “But don’t worry spideypool shippers, something’s about to happen. This is a whole Spider-Verse crossover and out of all the Peter Parkers in the multiverse, I’m not going to end up with the underage one because I ain’t no pedophile.”

“Um… who’s that?” Miles asked, landing next to them followed by Gwen, Cindy, and Venom after swinging into the scene. He was pointing at Wade.

“Uh, I made a new friend.” Peter replied, “Guys, this is Wade. Wade, this is-,”

“Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Cindy Moon, Eddie Brock/Venom, and MJ!” He waved, “Yeah, I already know a lot more than I should about you guys.”

“Cool. That’s not at all creepy.” Gwen muttered sarcastically.

“Sam’s been venomized.” Cindy informed with a slight edge of urgency in her voice, “We’re all that’s left against an army of symbiotes! What do we do now?”

“Oh, that’s perfect! I was already on the verge of a panic attack, but now I’m on the verge of another panic attack!” Miles interjected.

“Hold up, am I supposed to be the most mentally stable adult here?” Eddie returned to himself and gasped. He pointed at Quentin, “Because it’s definitely not you. Your crazy.” Then he pointed at Wade, “And I don’t know you, but you seem like you’re crazy too.”

“You would be right.” Wade nodded.

“Everybody focus for five seconds!” MJ called to get their attention, “We need to figure out what we’re gonna do or else all of this was for nothing and we’re all going to end up being venomized!”

Peter sighed, pulling off his mask, “I think we might have just already lost.” He glanced at Eddie, “It’s only a matter of time before all of us are trapped here and possessed by symbiotes. I mean, what else can we do that would make any sort of difference?”

“Alright, all of you, listen up!” Gwen called, standing on top of the taxi’s hood, “Yeah, we’re outnumbered. And basically overpowered. There’s probably nothing we can do that will have any effect on any of us getting out of here.”

“Ok, wow. That all sounds great.” Quentin replied sarcastically.

“Shut up! I’m getting there!” She sighed before continuing, “Anyways, no matter how many times we get hit, we always get up. No matter what dimension we’re from, that’s just what we do. So, hell yeah that’s what we’re going to do. Get up and keep going because we’re just too stubborn. Because we’re Spider-Women.”

“And men.” Miles added.

“And non-binaries.” Cindy also added.

“Right. Yes, Spider- all-inclusive genders.” Gwen corrected herself.

Quentin sighed, “And not everyone here is a spider-all-inclusive gender.”

“Hey! Let them be encouraging!” Wade shot back at him.

“Besides…” MJ began, sending a glance at Peter, “There are more of us. A lot more spider people out there.” She nodded to Gwen, “This is the last resort, right?”

“Way ahead of you.” She replied with a smirk, activating a device on her wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Wade for respecting my sensitivity to the f-word. I do not mind when others use it but I myself do not like to use it in conversation or in my writing. If I do it is extremely rare. Also thank you for continuing to treat this like a PG-13 MCU movie (hence the Canon-Violence tag on this work). I look forward to writing about you in the future!
> 
> \- WeirdFanGirl


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, when you put it like that... I guess I can't stay salty at you. Also, nice job writing/talking to a figment of your imagination. Well, maybe not your imagination because you didn't create Deadpool but you did write me into a fanfiction which I am both flattered and slightly creeped out about. I'll let you get back to your psychotic author's rampage while I go on my own rampage wherever in the universe I am now (RIP Fox and X-Men Universe I guess I'm supposed to be Disney now???) and whoever's stuck with this and read this... you're pretty damn awesome. Hope ya like the chapter (I'm in it so you better)! Byeeee!
> 
> -Deadpool (Bonus points if you read this entire thing in Ryan Reynold's voice, you beautiful little manics)

“Woah!” Peter gasped as a woman materialized right before them. She wore all red including a trench coat and sunglasses. She appeared to be flustered and turned to Gwen, “A sudden storm of destruction demolishing the future of the multiverse seconds before you call. Tell me, what has gone wrong?”

“See for yourself Madame Web. We’ve been completely overrun by symbiotes and we’re the only ones left.” She replied.

Madame Web looked out at the swarm of them over the scene. Sensing a new presence must have drawn them closer to their seemingly symbiote-less spot. Just as Peter was about to web them up, Madame Web held out her hand and a force field appeared that looked like a wispy, red web. It did not allow the symbiotes to penetrate through it. She nodded slowly at Gwen’s response, “It’s as I feared. You were right to call. What do you say we finish this?” She said with a knowing smile.

She pushed the force field down the street all the way to the end and walked forward with it in front of her. The symbiotes were forced back and piled up against the shield. Confused, the others followed her. She had managed to clear the entire street.

“This’ll be one hell of a reunion.” She muttered, snapping her fingers in the air and hundreds of beams of light struck down from the sky onto the pavement. Out of each beam, a different spider-person landed on the ground in a lunge. Soon, there was a crowd of spider heroes on the street.

“Wow.” Peter couldn’t help but breath out.

“Ow!” A voice muttered from behind him. Peter turned to see a Spider-Man had landed face first on the pavement. He pulled off his mask to reveal a tired, middle aged man with messy brown hair and dark eyes. Over his Spider-Man suit, he wore a pair of camouflaged sweatpants.

“Peter!” Peter turned at the call of his name from Miles, but he instead ran and hugged the man, knocking him to the ground again.

“Miles? Miles!” He exclaimed, hugging him back, “Kid, it’s so good to see you again!”

“Hey Peter!” Gwen waved.

“Gwen! You’re here too!” He beamed, “Wait, hold up! Hold up!” He exclaimed as Miles stood up, “Did you get taller? You were _definitely_ shorter the last time I saw you.”

Miles shrugged, “It’s a puberty thing.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Gwen began, “You probably wanna stop telling people that.”

He laughed nervously, “Oh yeah. I’m entirely aware.”

“Either way it’s illegal.” Peter replied sternly, “You can’t go around _growing_ like that. That’s illegal. That needs to stop.”

“Miles!” A short, bright eyed girl with choppy black hair interjected excitedly. She was followed by a towering red and blue spider-like robot.

“Hi Penni.” He smiled.

“Hello. Again.” An entirely greyscale Spider-Man that looked like an old detective approached them, “There’s a lot of people here and seeing as I know none of them, I came to see you guys again.”

“Did you solve the cube Noir?” Peter looked around for the voice and finally gazed down, shocked to see an overly cartoon-y pig wearing a Spider-Man suit.

Spider-Noir gasped excitedly, “Yes!” And pulled out a nearly finished Rubix cube.

“Ooh, buddy. Almost there. Just a few squares…” The other Peter commented.

Spider-Noir sighed sadly and stared at the cube.

“Here, I got it.” Miles took the cube and twisted it a few times before all the colors aligned, “There you go.” Noir took back the cube slowly and stared at it with a look of utter contemplation.

“Well, it looks like the gang is back together.” The spider-pig-thing beamed.

Miles, Gwen, the older Peter, Penni and her robot, Spider-Noir, and the Spider-pig grinned and nodded at each other.

Cindy leaned over and whispered to Peter and MJ, “I have no idea who half those people are.”

“Me neither.” MJ grinned back.

“Right! Guys, this is Peter, Cindy, and MJ.” Miles introduced them to the group.

“So, you’re Peter too?” The older Peter pointed at him.

“Yeah!” Peter pointed back at him, “How come there are so many Peters?”

He sighed, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Ah, yes. The glorious Spider-Man meme format. I hope whoever’s reading this is imagining it in their head. And there’s going to be a lot more of that because let’s be honest, this is a Spider-Man crossover.” Wade commented.

“What Spider-Man are you?” Penni asked him curiously.

“I’m the one and only Deadpool!” He beamed proudly, “Or… maybe not. Considering there’s a whole Spider-Verse set up there’s probably a Deadpool from every dimension too. Hey, how come I don’t get a Deadpool: Into the… pool-verse?” He sighed, “Yeah, maybe that’s why.”

“In my dimension, you’re Pandapool.” The Spider-pig stated.

Wade gasped, “Oh my God, that is the most adorable and badass thing ever! Look, I just want to tell you that I love all of you guys and your movie was beautiful, I laughed I cried just… great freaking job you guys.”

“Um… thanks…” The older Peter replied, clearly confused.

“And, like, your whole thing with depression I mean… that shit hit kinda hard. But that meant a lot, you know, just seeing you get back up again and… oh come here.” Wade continued before hugging him. The older Peter let out a surprised noise before he lightly patted him back.

“You ok Man?” He asked with a slight edge of concern in his voice.

“Oh yeah.” He nodded, letting go and putting his hands on his hips, “I’m great.”

The older Peter tilted his head, unconvinced, “Well, once all this is over, if you want to grab a pizza and talk about it, that’s fine with me.”

Wade gave an excited gasp and nodded eagerly, “Yes! I mean, ooh… classy. Yeah, no, that sounds great.”

The older Peter gave a small smile and nodded, and Wade turned back to Peter once he wasn’t looking and sighed, “Spidey… I think I’m in love.”

“Hey! Everyone! Listen up!” A tall, dark haired Spider-Woman in a red and yellow suit called, “If we’re all here, that means that something really bad is going down. Not the usual bad, but symbioted-Avengers bad. At least, I think most have us have dealt with symbiotes by now.”

“Hi. Yes, Miguel O’Hara. Spider-Man 2099.” A neon blue and electric red Spider-Man cut her off, “So this is Earth-616, correct? Cool. Just wanted to make sure my interdimensional tracking system wasn’t off. So, who’s the Spider-Man or, yes sorry, Spider-Woman of this dimension that got a multi-dimensional collapse to start? And how do we stop it?”

“Um…?” Peter immediately wondered why the heck he was doing this but shyly raised his hand, “I’m, I’m Spider-Man.”

“Oh! Um, wow, I was not expecting you to be a literal child.” Miguel replied seriously.

“Actually, I’m sixteen.”

Madame Web rolled her eyes, “There’s a Spider-Man and a Spider-Woman in this dimension. And yes, this is the source of the chaos but it’s not from them. It’s actually from those two.” She gestured to Eddie, who appeared uneagerly startled at this callout, “And just so nobody freaks out, this is the Venom that’s from the dimension were they’re not a bad guy.”

“Didn’t know there was such a dimension.” The other Peter muttered.

“The fate of the multiverse depends on this. The Doctor Strange of this dimension has opened the mirror dimension around New York to keep the outside world safe from us. But, it’s not immune to interdimensional travel.” She continued.

“So, we take all the symbiotes to another dimension.” The Spider-Woman stated.

“Exactly Jessica. Strange didn’t have enough time to find the right world, but while I was searching, it was so obvious we glanced right over it. We return them to their planet and then back to their original world so we can seal the gap. The dynamic between Spider-Man and Venom is sort of like magnets, but the dimension without a Spider-Man or Woman is the perfect one because nothing there can draw the symbiotes on their own.”

“Hold up, you said you couldn’t reach Eddie and Venom’s world.” Gwen pointed out.

Madame Web nodded, “I said I couldn’t see it. Doesn’t mean I can’t reach it. But it will be risky. Plus, we need to move a literal planet. We’re going to need to split some symbiotes from their Avenger hosts so they can help us. We also need to hold back the symbiotes so I can open the gateway to the other dimension.”

“This almost sounds like a plan.” Miguel replied, “But there’s gotta be something we can use to get a mass of symbiotes back onto their planet. We all know what repeals them, is there anything we know that would attract them? Other than severed heads?”

“They have a nest.” MJ imputed, “We saw it a bit ago. Maybe they’re like bees and there’s some sort of queen we could capture and use as bait.”

Eddie nodded slowly, “Venom says they would need a host to assert any real authority. That’s why they’re running rampant like this.”

“Still, it’s a start.” Madame Web turned to MJ, “Taking down the nest will still hit them pretty hard. Alright everyone, get ready. I’m about to let the barrier down.”

Peter, once again a little overwhelmed from all that was happening, stood in between MJ and Madame Web, whose eyes twinkled as she smiled. “Good to have you back.” She said.

Peter tilted his head, “I’m sorry, have we met?”

“No. However, I was made aware of your ‘Venom run-in’.”

“Oh, um, thank you. I’m Peter-,”

“Parker.” She cut him off with a light laugh, “Yes, I’ve heard the name many times.”

A moment more passed as she glanced back at the team and then the barrier disappeared. The symbiotes spilled over like a burst dam and all of the Spider-people including Venom took off web-slinging. Peter saw a flash of green light underneath him as Quentin tricked the symbiotes with a ghostly illusion. Then the spider-people engaged in battle with the symbiotes; a medieval knight Spider-Man took his sword and cut through them, a steampunk Spider-Woman punched one across the face, a punk rock Spider-Man nailed a symbiote in the head with his guitar, and a UK Spider-Man skillfully kicked one back, calling out a slur of curses in a British accent. Peter gasped as he electrically shocked a symbiote with a web, “We left Wade!”

The other Peter sighed, “No we didn’t.”

Wade clung onto him as he swung and gave a delighted sigh, “My hero.”

Peter rolled his eyes and laughed, then out of the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a venomized-Loki, “Hey… Miles.”

“I see it.” He replied, swinging over to him, “Let’s go get him.”

Peter and Miles leapt over the symbiote and attacked from both sides. The symbiote in return slashed at them but after he was tossed into a streetlamp, an idea struck him. “Miles!” He called, pointing at the arch in the streetlamp, “We can use our taser webs as a pulley system!” Miles nodded, kicking venomized-Loki across the face, “But we need to get him under it.”

He had another idea, “Hey! Mr. Spider-Noir Nicolas Cage sir? Can I borrow your Rubix cube?” Peter asked as he swung overhead. He dropped it and then Peter swiftly caught it, “Thank you!” He waved the cube at the symbiote, specifically the blue side facing him, “Hey Mr. Loki!” He called, “Looky what I got! It’s the tesseract!”

The symbiote immediately turned at him and charged. Miles flipped through the air and launched a web over the streetlamp and onto the Loki symbiote.

“Going up!” He called, pulling the symbiote back and up off the ground, hanging over the streetlamp. Peter also attached his webs and the two gave him such an electrical shock that cause the symbiote to scurry away, leaving Loki limp in the web.

“Yes!” Peter and Miles cheered and high fived. They froze as a venomized-Groot crashed on the ground in front of them.

“We can’t any symbiotes take over Loki again.” Peter said, “I’ll take care of this guy. Get Loki somewhere safe.” Miles didn’t seem happy about this, but he nodded reassuringly, “I’ll be back.” He swung off with Loki over his shoulder while Peter slid underneath the Groot symbiote’s arm that grew in length, seeing it fly over him as he leaned back. He then flipped sideways in the air, kicking the symbiote across the face.

“Oo, looks like you got something on your face.” Peter commented before the symbiote roared at him, “Ok! Ok!” He webbed a manhole cover and swung it at him like a frisbee, “Catch!”

With a long ‘gong’, the cover hit the Groot symbiote in the head. It stared at him for a moment suspended with a pure rage.

“I’m sorry.” Peter muttered quietly.

Venomized-Groot then viciously slashed at him with claws and elongated arms, finally pounding him into the ground. “Ow.” He groaned, then gasped as the symbiote went to bite his head off. He struggled to hold its jaw apart with his hands. With the sound of a sword beginning drawn, Peter turned to see a venomized version of Gamora looming towards him.

“Seriously?” He muttered through gritted teeth. The teeth of the symbiote’s jaw he was holding apart were sinking further into his skin, making it harder to concentrate. Just then, another Spider-Man landed in between them. He was a lot taller than Peter and well built. The design of his suit seemed older, almost more vintage and the design of the webs were highly emphasized in silver, “Hey! Mean, green and ugly! Follow me!” He taunted before leading the Gamora symbiote away from Peter.

“He means the symbiote.” Another Spider-Man added, swinging in from above to help the other. This one had an edgy black spider stretched down his chest and his suit was electric blue and red, “I’m sure you’re just as, if not more beautiful without it.”

While the other two distracted venomized Gamora, Peter brought his knee up into the Groot symbiote’s throat. As the symbiote crumbled to the ground, Peter shocked it with his taser webs which took it down but wasn’t enough to get the symbiote off.

“Hey! Um, tiny Spider-Man!” The second Spider-Man called, “Watch out.” He caught Gamora with a web as she lurched at Peter, her large blade extended, “Didn’t your parents ever warn you about running with scissors?”

“That’s a sword.” The other one webbed it away from her and waved it in the other’s face, “See? _Sword_.”

“I know that. But I’m running out of material here.” He gasped, “What if swords are like, the ancestors of scissors?”

“What?” The first Spider-Man asked, unconvinced as they continued to fight her hand to hand.

“No seriously, think about it! Swords are a lot bigger and have one blade but what if they sort of evolved into a subspecies that was double bladed?”

“…I’m literally trying to block you out right now.”

“Guys, hold on!” Peter yelled. He sailed over the Gamora symbiote, grabbed her by the shoulders in the air while he was upside down, and flipped, throwing her into the wall. He then stuck her in her upside-down position with his web fluid, aided by the other two Spider-Men as she tried to break free.

“Alright, I think we got her.” The first Spider-Man breathed.

“Awesome! Just about a hundred more to go.” The second sighed, then nodded to Peter, “Nice suit.”

“Thanks! You too.” He beamed, “I’m Peter by the way.”

“Well that’s easy to remember I’m Peter too.” He said, amused.

The first Spider-Man glanced between them, “Did you both seriously just revealed your secret identities to each other?”

The second shrugged, “Well, we’re both Peter. And all of us here are at least some sort of spider-person. Most of us.” He leaned over to Peter and whispered, “I bet you five bucks he’s also Peter Parker.”

He sighed, “First of all, the argument that we’re all ‘spider-people’ is like the argument that you can look at other dudes in the locker-room because ‘we’re all dudes’. Well, some of us dudes are bisexual, so that doesn’t really justify your argument anymore.”

“Wait, are you bi?” The second gasped, pointing at him, “I am too.” He turned to Peter and pointed at him too, “Are you bi too?”

“Yeah, I am!” He replied pointing back. Now all three were pointing at each other, “But wait a sec. Were you just saying that we shouldn’t reveal our identities to each other because we’re bi?”

The second nodded back to the first, “Yeah, cause that sounds a bit homophobic.”

“What?! No, that’s not what I’m saying at all!” He groaned, “That was just a comparison! I was just trying to say it’s not a good idea to reveal your secret identity! That’s all!” He sighed, “But yeah… I’m Peter Parker.”

The second Spider-Man winked at Peter, “Told you.”

All of the sudden, Wade came running out of a nearby alleyway and stopped when seeing them before squealing, “Oh my God it’s happening! Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Mans all got to meet each other! Yes! So beautiful!”

A low growl came from where Groot lay as the symbiote slowly surrounded him again.

“Oh great, what do we do?” The second one, the one Wade called ‘Andrew Garfield’ asked.

Peter tried his taser webs, but nothing came out, “No, no, no!” He groaned, “You have officially chosen the worst time to recharge!”

“Then get ready.” The first one Wade had called ‘Tobey Maguire’ held up his fists, “Also, I’m super confused; is that supposed to be a tree?”

Venomized Groot’s hand clamped to the hood off a beaten car near him. He appeared weaker than before. His taser webs had done more damage than we had realized. All it needed was one more kick…

And it came as a web grenade was launched by someone who Peter knew wasn’t any of the Spider-Men he was standing with. It hit the hood of the car and the alarm went off. The blaring noise was too much for the symbiote as it hurried off, leaving Groot behind.

“I am Groot.” He muttered exhaustedly.

“Hey guys!” They all turned to see another Spider-Man perched onto of the building. The one that had shot the grenade. He waved at them, “What’s up?” His suit was red and blue as well with a white spider on his chest and white armor on his forearms.

“And then that one is PS4 Spider-Man.” Wade whispered to Peter.

Miles then swung back into the scene, a little surprised by all the new faces, “Wow. New friends?” He asked Peter.

“Yeah. That’s Peter, Peter, and… what’s your name?” He called up to the PS4 Spider-Man.

“Peter!” He yelled back.

“And then that’s Peter.” He finished.

“Definity not at all overwhelming or confusing.” Miles replied sarcastically, “Hey! Tree’s back to normal.”

“Yeah. Oh! Come help me fix Gamora!” It only took Miles one venom strike with the car horn already blaring. They got Groot and Gamora away from the symbiotes and tried, key word being tried, to explain to them what was happening but couldn’t stop interrupting each other. But as it turned out, a lot more people were beginning to get de-venomized besides Loki, Gamora, and Groot. And they were putting up a fight.

“It kinda looks like we’re winning now.” Peter commented.

“Oh shoot! I knew I forgot something! About that…” Miles replied, “Madame Web called for backup. She’s in the nest with MJ.”


	25. Chapter 25

MJ swung ahead of Madame Web to the structure of the nest. It was already much different than how they left it. It looked less like an office building since before it had seemed creepy and disturbing, but now it was like a hive. Symbiotes swarmed around it and made it seemingly impenetrable. There was an ominous dark cloud that hung over the top of it, most likely from the Symbiote Supreme.

“He’s infusing this place with energy from the dark dimension.” Madame Web observed.

“That’s… bad. Right?” She asked.

“Extremely. All the newborns will have extreme power and strength, making them nearly impossible to stop.”

“Ok. Definitely bad.” MJ agreed, “How are we going to get past all of that?” She gestured to the nest.

Madame Web sighed in acceptance that no one had answered her call for backup, “I believe with just you and me.”

“Don’t forget about us.” Gwen replied, perching next to them alongside Penni inside of her robot.

“Yeah! We got you guys.” Cindy replied from the other side with Jessica Drew Spider-Woman. MJ smiled at the other Spider-Women, “Alright then.” She turned to Madame Web, “Is this enough back up?”

Madame Web nodded back with a grin, “I believe this will do just fine.” Together, they fought their way into the structure. The symbiotes swarmed at them as soon as they broke through the glass.

“I’m beginning to notice a pattern. The more places we go, the more slimeballs there are.” Cindy commented, webbing a herd of them back into a closet. MJ kicked the door closed and webbed it shut.

“Yeah. I’m sensing that pattern too.” She replied, sticking to the ceiling and taking out more of them from up there.

“Ladies! The stairwell is clear! Let’s go!” Jessica instructed. They raced up the stairs to another floor with more symbiotes.

“Great. Expected, but just great.” Gwen muttered sarcastically.

“Hey, so, what’s everyone’s names?” Jessica asked as she fought, “I know Julia and half of everyone who is Peter, but that’s about it.”

“I’m Penni Parker!” Penni called brightly from inside her robot.

“Gwen.” Gwen replied.

Cindy waved, “My name’s Cindy!”

“I’m MJ.”

“Alright, cool. Penni, Gwen, Cindy, and MJ. Well, I’m Jessica Drew. All of you are adorable and I’m adopting all of you.” She replied.

“Guys! You might wanna take a look at this!” Cindy shouted, halfway through a tile in the ceiling. The others followed her through, and MJ recognized where they were. It was the same “nest” that they had teleported with Doctor Strange into before. Expect it was bigger. Much bigger. Not to mention creepier as they waded knee deep through settled, multicolor symbiotes. In the center stood a large, red, crystal-like formation that gave off a hypnotic, pulsating glow.

“The symbiote possessing Doctor Strange has used his magic to alter the size and appearance of this area.” Madame Web observed.

“What’s that?” Cindy pointed at the crystal.

“I’m not sure. Its formation must have come from a combination of cosmic forces and sorcery.” She replied.

“Maybe we could use it to draw the symbiotes back to their planet.” Gwen suggested.

“Touching unknown objects is always a bad move. Especially in alien invasion movies.” Cindy pointed out.

MJ could have sworn she saw the crystal move, but then they heard a loud thud followed by a murmur of voices, “Avenger symbiotes?” She asked the others, apprehension rising in her voice.

“Maybe.” Jessica replied, holding up her fists, ready to fight, “Get ready.” They waited with anticipation until something finally emerged from one of the ceiling tiles.

“Die alien!” Cindy screamed, kicking whatever it was as hard as she could until it fell back down. “Ow!” A yell came from below followed by a groan of pain.

“Miles! You said it was clear!” MJ heard Peter call from below.

“From where I was standing it looked like it was!” Miles shouted back, letting his invisible cover fade away from where he had been perched on the ceiling.

“Miles?” Gwen asked as he joined them, “What are you doing here?”

“We got her call.” He pointed at Madame Web.

Cindy raised her brow, “Who exactly is ‘we’? There was no way it was just you and Peter.”

“Well, in a way it’s just Miles, Peter, and Wade.” A different Spider-Man replied, crawling out of the missing tile in the ceiling; the one that Cindy had kicked in the face. He had a large, white spider symbol on his chest and helped two more Spider-Men up along with Peter and Wade. Each of them had a post it note on their chest too. The one that Cindy kicked read “PS4”, one had “Tobey”, one had “Andrew”, and Peter’s said “Tom”.

“Woah. Who are you guys?” MJ asked.

“I’m Peter Parker. And so is he. And him. And also him. And then that’s Wade and it seems like you guys already know Miles.” PS4 Spider-Man replied.

“Oh. Well, that’ll be easy to remember.” Cindy commented brightly, “Also, sorry for kicking you in the face.”

“We’re all good.” PS4 Spider-Man replied coolly.

“Why do you all have sticky notes?” Jessica asked the obvious.

Tobey Spider-Man sighed, and jabbed his thumb at Wade, “He made us wear them.”

“We literally have no idea what they mean.” Andrew Spider-Man added.

“It’s to avoid confusion and to convenience the fanfiction readers. You’re welcome guys.” Wade spoke aloud.

“Why doesn’t Miles have one then?” Madame Web asked.

“Miles doesn’t need one. He’s an icon.” Wade replied.

“Hey guys… what was-,” Tobey Spider-Man didn’t get to finish what he was saying before an attacker jumped out of seemingly nowhere and he leapt back to avoid being it. Miles ran along the ceiling to avoid having to travel through the swimming pool of symbiotes and to try to help, but the attacker kicked him in the chest as he dropped down, sending him flying back. The attacker traded blows with Tobey Spider-Man until they swiftly took a baton to the back of his head before disappearing. He was knocked out cold.

“Oh no! They got Tobey!” Wade cried.

“What was that thing?” The Andrew Spider-Man asked as all the spider people and Deadpool stood together, back to back.

The attacker finally revealed herself. Her hands and formed into dual guns and her dark, black form reflected her deadly nature. The red symbol of the Black Widow stretched across her chest, ran like ink, but perhaps the biggest give away was the fiery red hair that tore widely through the air under the symbiote’s influence.

Wade laughed nervously, “Oh, would you look at that. It’s _Black Widow babyyy_.” He sang off key.

“Well. We’re all dead now.” MJ stated matter-of-factly.

“Can’t kill me if I’m already dead!” Andrew Spider-Man shouted before rapidly shooting webs at her.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” PS4 Spider-Man called after him.

“It’s cause I’m already dead on the inside!” He yelled back.

They all fought against the powerful alien assassin. She was incredibly strong and skilled which made her hard to hit and even harder to block. During the brawl, MJ was kicked in the diaphragm and back, sliding across the ground. She wheezed from the impact, then squinted from a light in her eyes. She turned her head to see she was lying right next to the crystal. Not only had she sworn it was moving, it was now swimming. She reached her hand up to it and it began to jitter even more rapidly. It was then she realized it wasn’t a crystal at all.

“It’s a symbiote.” She muttered to herself. It basically had “symbiote queen” written all over it. However, what frightened MJ was when she moved her hand away, the symbiote reached towards her. It was drawn to her.

“Ok… That’s not good.” MJ said hesitantly as she picked herself up and moved away. The symbiote burst from its crystal form like a phoenix and gave a loud shriek, enraged by this.

“What the hell is that?” PS4 Spider-Man yelled at the sight of it. The symbiotes around them began to stir, apparently aroused by its cry.

“What’s happening?!” Miles asked, panicked.

“We’ve found the queen.” Madame Web replied somberly, glancing at MJ, “And the Queen has found her thrown.”

MJ shook her head slowly, horrified, “No.” She whispered, realizing what that meant for her. That this ‘queen symbiote’ was going to do whatever it took to get ahold of her.

“We’ll hold off crazy pants! You guys keep the symbiote from getting to her.” Andrew Spider-Man instructed as he, PS4 Spider-Man, and Wade continued to fight Venomized Black Widow while the others webbed the symbiote. So, it was wrapped in a cocoon.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad.” Peter said, seconds before the symbiote burst from the shell again, “…Whoops.”

The symbiote reached out at them and attacked each one, growing in size. MJ blocked one of its claws, then watch in horror as it strangled Peter.

“Enough!” MJ shouted with fury, “You want me?” She shot a web outside the broken window, “Come and get me.” And with that she jumped out, pulling herself up into the air with a flip on the outside of the building.

PS4 Spider-Man blinked and turned to Peter, “It’s so badass that the version of MJ from your dimension is a Spider-Woman.”

Peter smiled, “Yeah, I know.”

MJ sailed over the roof of the building and sure enough, the symbiote followed her. She hadn’t thought about how she was to get rid of it yet. But before she could come up with an idea, the Symbiote Supreme on the roof knocked her out of the air with a burst of magic.

“Dude!” She shouted at him before the symbiote chasing her attacked. MJ struggled against it, but the symbiote attached itself to her and wouldn’t go. A red haze began to cloud her mind as it began to take over.

**_Hello._ ** It spoke sweetly inside her head; its voice dripping with poison.

“Stop!” MJ yelled with a powerful fury, “You’re not going to use me. I’m not your pawn!”

**_You have incredible will. But I don’t want to force you to do anything. That doesn’t make for a good symbiotic relationship. I need your help._ **Its deep voice sounded feminine.

“I don’t even know you!”

**_Carnage._ ** She said.

“…Your name is Carnage?”

**_Yes Michelle._ **

“MJ.” She corrected, “And I’m still not helping you. So, do yourself a favor and get out of me right now.”

**_I could make you kill all of your friends right now._ ** She replied. **_However, I’m not interested in them. I want you. I want you to be the Queen._**

“No.” She snarled.

**_You want this fighting to stop. I can feel it. You want to keep Peter Parker safe._ **

“Get out of my head!”

**_You need me to accomplish that._ ** Carnage continued. **_I need you to control symbiote-kind. You and me, we’re unstoppable. If you wish to see any sort of resolve to this conflict, I will not have to force you to do anything. You will choose too._** A pause. **_I feel conflict._**

“I’m not going to win this by giving into the bad guy.” MJ replied flatly.

**_Is that how you see me? A bad guy? The way I see it,_ ** **we _are whatever_ we _want. The symbiotes will be under our control._ **

“MJ!” She heard Peter call her name and turned, Carnage in her hands like dripping blood. She watched him stop in his tracks seconds before the Symbiote Supreme knocked him to the ground brutally with a spell.

“No!” She roared extending her hand at him and Carnage with it, wrapping itself around the Symbiote Supreme’s throat and suspending him in the air. The dark cloud above them began to fade away.

**_See? The power inside of you now? Are you going to let this war rage on when you can end it so easily?_ **

“Shut up.” MJ replied sternly, letting him go before making her way to Peter, “Are you ok?”

“MJ! It’s inside you!” He exclaimed, ignoring the question.

“I know.” She said calmly.

He studied her, his brown eyes searching for something and then he nodded slowly, “What’s it telling you?”

She sighed, “Peter, it’s telling me it wants to help me stop this. Stop the symbiotes.”

It was a moment before he replied, “Don’t listen.”

“What if she’s right?” She pressed.

“But is that a risk we’re willing to take?” There was a great deal of pain in his voice. The fear of losing her. The longer this went on, the more afraid she was of losing him too.

“Maybe!” She exclaimed and Peter looked at her with high concern, “I mean, how much longer do we keep this up? I can make the symbiotes go back to their planet.”

“Or it could make you make the symbiotes tear up our planet.” Peter pointed out urgently, “Don’t let it convince of anything. There has to be another way.”

“Peter’s right.” Madame Web appeared on the roof behind him along with Gwen, Miles, Cindy, Penni, and Jessica, “We’ll figure this out. Let us get that thing out of you.”

**_That’s the one who’s supposed to have a plan? She seems desperate._ ** Carnage commented.

MJ sensed Miles firing a taser web at her, but she involuntary blocked it, Carnage forming around her arm to slice it away.

“MJ!”

“That wasn’t me!” She exclaimed.

**_You’re wasting time. They’re not going to listen to you._ ** Carnage continued. **_Listen to your judgement._**

_There’s a difference between listening to you and my judgement._ MJ thought to herself.

“MJ listen to me. You can fight it.” Peter urged. Madame Web had already begun to push the others back. She reached for Peter too, but he shrugged her off, refusing to leave her. While the act touched her, MJ realized that what Madame Web was doing was right. That she was going to hurt someone. That she was going to hurt Peter.

“No, you listen to me.” She began, tears forming in her eyes, “Stay away from me.”

She wished Peter’s mask had been on so she wouldn’t have had to see the crushing hurt on his face as he stepped back in shock. She would’ve done anything to have taken that back.

“Peter, she’s scared and confused…” Jessica began.

“No I’m not!” She exclaimed hysterically.

“MJ, listen to Peter and Jessica!” Gwen exclaimed.

**_Don’t listen to them. They don’t think you can handle it._ **

There were too many people to listen and not listen to. With Carnage rising up inside of her, she feared it was too much for her. And that was what gave Carnage the final advantage over her.

The last thing she heard was a loud shout of “No!” that wasn’t from Peter, but before going under for good, she made one final, silent, promise to herself and Peter that she wouldn’t stop fighting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi babies it's Deadpool again! While Author is working on editing the next chapter she wanted me to let you know that since this chapter you just read and the next one go pretty hand in hand, she's going to be posting twice today. Is MJ really going to kill all the superheroes as Carnage and wreak havoc on the world? (Probably not because, come on, is the author really going to kill off me? Besides, you really can't kill off me because of my healing factor so HA!) Anyways, see you again shortly for the next chapter!
> 
> -Deadpool


	26. Chapter 26

_ Fifteen Minutes Earlier _

“ **Eddie I’m hungry!** ” Venom complained.

_ Now? _ Eddie thought to himself.

“ **Yes now!** ” He stated, annoyed.

_ Ok, ok! I’ll figure it out! _

“ **There’s plenty of heads to eat. Just saying…** ” Venom purred.

_ Yeah… no. _ Venom and Eddie landed on the ground in front of a convenience store. Venom disappeared back into Eddie as he opened the door. The store was small, dirty, and smelled of cigarettes. The lights gave off a florescent green haze and most of them flickered. He went over to the candy section and began feeding various chocolate bars to Venom, who reappeared as a head over his shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” A voice asked and Eddie looked over his shoulder to see Quentin sitting on the register counter, not looking up from the device on his wrist he was working on.

Eddie surprised he hadn’t seen him there at first, shrugged and turned away, “Feeding my alien so he doesn’t bite your head off.”

“Charming.” He muttered sarcastically.

“No, I’m actually not joking. He seriously will do it.” Eddie smirked, walking up to the cash register and placing enough dollar bills inside it to cover the candy bars. Quentin watched him do this, then returned to what he was doing.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asked him.

He sighed, “My hologram projector got damaged in the fight. I came in here to try to fix it.”

Eddie gave a hollow laugh, “You, Iron Man, the tech people. Your stuff stops working and our out. Just seems inconvenient.”

“Do yourself a favor and don’t compare me to Tony Stark.” Quentin replied darkly.

Eddie held up his hands, “Jeez, someone’s sensitive. For the record, I compared you to Iron Man.”

“Trust me, they’re interchangeable.”

“Well, have fun then. I’ll leave you two alone.” Eddie made his way to the door.

He looked up at him, confused, “Two?”

“You and your angst.”

Quentin rolled his eyes, “Wow. How long did it take for you to come up with that one?” He asked sarcastically.

“I’m just naturally hilarious.” He paused as he grabbed the door handle, then turned back at Quentin, “Hey. Quick question: why do you hate the kid?”

He froze before letting out a sigh and continuing on his work, “I don’t hate Peter. He should have just stayed away.”

“You realize that’s just about the lamest excuse ever, right?”

“I’m aware.” He replied, “I had a goal and a vendetta against Tony Stark. And he got in the way of that. It’s his own fault.”

“You couldn’t think that. You were the one who hurt him. If anything…” He smirked, leaning against the door frame, “It’s your fault.”

Quentin gave a frustrated huff, “What is your deal? Can you just go already?”

“I’m just trying to find out if you’re really a supervillain. And I’m also giving you a hard time because I’m still made at you for kidnapping me.”

“What do you mean ‘if I’m really a supervillain’?”

“Well, supervillains are crazy and delusion.” Eddie replied, “They mean to hurt people, but the really trippy ones won’t admit that’s what they did.”

“Fine! Alright, I get it. Yes, I hurt Peter! Are you happy?!” Quentin asked him, clearly agitated.

Eddie thought about what Venom had told him about Peter, “But why would you hurt him in the way that would destroy him the most? You made him trust you.”

“Then maybe you’re wrong. Maybe I’m the bad guy.” There was something off about how he said it. He seemed sure of the statement, but regretful.

Eddie nodded, “Yeah. I probably am.” Then he turned to leave. Just as he was outside, he heard Quentin call, “Wait!” after him. Eddie turned back, “Yeah?”

He sighed, “If you see Peter again, tell him I’m sorry. He’s never going to believe you, and he would punch me in the face if I said it. But at least he’ll know. I’m not sorry for everything I did, but I’m sorry him getting hurt was a result of what I did. And… I might not see him again.”

“Alright, come on. You’ve had enough time to mope in here. Let’s go.” He replied, holding the door open.

Quentin tilted his head, “The projector still isn’t working.”

“How unfortunate. You’ll actually have to fight things for real. This would be incredibly symbolic if we weren’t going to die.”

He rolled his eyes, “Fine. I might still have some tricks up my sleeve anyways.”

“Great. Now I have to deal with magician jokes.” Eddie sighed.

“I’m not a magician.”

“ **Shut up Fishbowl**.” Venom snarled, growing around Eddie. They stepped outside and then fought against the symbiotes together. Venom tore at them in a fury while Quentin fought hand to hand, also using smoke bombs to trick the symbiotes and then strike behind them. It also seemed that the magnets in his boots were still working, allowing him to temporarily hover above the ground to attack.

Venom caught sight of the War Machine symbiote speeding through the air towards them. He pounded the ground above a manhole cover, letting his arms extend underground and burst out through the next manhole cover on the street, knocking the War Machine symbiote out of the air. He regained flight shortly before he hit the ground and his machine guns whirred before firing at Venom. Furious, he leapt into the air and slashed at him, but he dodged and flew out of the way. He aimed to fire again, but Venom watched as Quentin rose up behind him in a cloud of green mist.

He tapped him on the shoulder and when the War Machine symbiote turned around, he smirked, “Hey.” The cloud surrounded the symbiote too and then with a flash from inside, he burst from it, followed by the symbiote. He headed straight to a wall and pushed himself off of it, back at the symbiote. Then he punched him square in the jaw, knocking him out of the fight.

Venom grinned, “ **Nice**.”

Quentin shrugged, then smiled, “Thanks. I was a stuntman for a while.”

Another symbiote flew into the scene with a jetpack but appeared to be much smaller than the others. In fact…

“Is that a racoon?” Quentin asked.

The symbiote growled, “ **I… ain’t no… RACOON**!” It pulled a gun on them, then many small pieces from his pockets, assembling them into an oversized blaster that made a furious charge.

The older version of Spider-Man, Peter B Parker, swung out behind the racoon and webbed him, gripping the other end of his web. Once landing on the ground, he swung it around and tossed it across the street. Then he turned on them, holding up his fists, ready to fight. Venom growled at this, but Quentin held out his hands, “Woah! Calm down!”

Peter B tilted his head, “That one’s the good Venom, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… more or less.” He replied.

Spider-Noir landed next to Peter B, “What about you? Are you good in this dimension too? Mysterio hasn’t been one to take to kindly in any of our dimensions.”

Peter B’s eyes widened as he looked from Quentin, back to Noir, “That’s Mysterio?! I guess I should’ve figured it out with the green smoke and all but, wow, he looks really different. How come Mysterio’s hot in this dimension?”

Spider-Ham dropped down next to them and gasped, “Miles and the gang are in trouble! They headed up to the nest!”

“God, that thing is crawling with them.” Peter B muttered, “We’ve gotta go help them.”

Just as Venom stepped forward to head off with them, a wave of red crashed through his vision and he stumbled to the ground, retreating back into Eddie.

“Hey, what happened?” Peter B asked concernedly, placing his hand on his shoulder, but Eddie ignored him.

“What the hell was that?” Eddie asked Venom. He could feel an excruciating resistance inside of him. It was strange because it felt like Venom was fighting against the control of something else. Soon, he couldn’t feel him at all, “Venom!”

**_ Carnage found her. _ ** Venom finally replied, his presence returning.

“You scared me! And who’s ‘her’?”

**_ The girl Peter cares about. MJ. She’s got her. They’ll control all of the symbiotes together. _ **

A pause, “What does that mean for you?”

**_ It means I have you. And I’m not leaving you again. _ **

Eddie smiled. Of course he wasn’t. If there was anything that could stop a symbiote overlord, it was Venom’s stubbornness. Peter B gave Eddie his hand and helped him up, “You’re right. They are in trouble. Carnage just found what she’s looking for.”

“Who’s Carnage?” Noir asked.

“Basically this symbiote who, when she merges with her ‘queen’, becomes the overlord of symbiotes.” Eddie replied.

**_ The symbiotes still haven’t turned to her will yet. She must be fighting back. That means we still have time. _ ** Venom said from inside his head.

He nodded, “If we hurry, we might be able to stop her.”

Peter B and Spider-Noir exchanged a glance and nodded. Then they took off swinging towards the nest alongside Venom and Spider-Ham as Quentin flew underneath them. When they reached the nest, there was a loud crash as Wade flew through the glass of the window and fell to the ground.

“For Christ’s sake!” Peter B exclaimed, swinging underneath and catching him.

Wade gasped, “Spidey! You saved me!” He placed his hand lovingly on his chest.

“Yeah, well, you’ve got to stop doing this.” He smirked.

Once they reached the roof, Eddie and Venom realized they were too late, “ **NO**!” They shouted as the symbiote consumed MJ in a blur of red and black before slashing in a radius around her, knocking them back with a nasty slash that Venom immediately healed. MJ emerged with a new demeanor, making it obvious that she was no longer MJ. She was red with an inky black, spider running down her chest fit with a spiky, black crown.

“ **KNEEL BEFORE YOUR CARNAGE QUEEN**!” She bellowed, flashing white, dagger-like teeth.


	27. Chapter 27

For a moment, Peter was sure they were as good as dead. Carnage had successful fused with MJ and was going to force her to kill them all. That or something worse. The whole ‘kneel before your queen’ bit seemed like she was sure of her sinister plans for them. That was until Peter realized that it wasn’t directed at them. In fact, she brushed right past them and stood at the edge of the roof. It seemed everyone was too paralyzed to do anything and watched as she held out her hand, making the symbiotes all around the city draw towards her.

“They’re retreating.” Cindy whispered, her eyes wide in realization.

Carnage Queen then commanded to the Symbiote Supreme, “Open the portal.” And he obeyed, creating a swirling, dark red portal in front of him. The symbiotes promptly slithered up the building, past their feet, and into the portal. Even the ones that were still with Avenger hosts left them in a hurry to the portal. Soon, all that was left were the ones in the nest. At first Peter’s hopes were raised with the possibility that MJ had gained control, however, it was immediately replaced by a sickening feeling as the Black Widow symbiote reappeared on the roof, still very much attached to Black Widow. She dragged an unconscious PS4 and Andrew Spider-Man behind her. Carnage nodded at her approvingly and flicked her wrist. The Symbiote Supreme closed the portal in response. Peter could sense that something appalling was about to happen.

“ **Finally**.” Carnage Queen sneered, “ **The fighting ends. All I needed to do to stop you from hurting _my_ own was to pair with one of _your_ own.**”

“Great. You got what you wanted. Now let MJ go.” Jessica stated sternly.

She tilted her head at her, “ **No. _She_ got what _she_ wanted. What all of you wanted. The fighting has stopped. And you won’t start it again because I have your friend on my team. Which is why we can start a new order. The old race of symbiotes can return home peacefully but**…” She gave a stiff laugh, “ **I have plans for our nest. Infused with magic from the dark dimension, the spawns will be evolved. Almost as powerful as me. They are better suited for this world, so here they will stay. They won’t need hosts. They’ll have the souls of those in the dark dimension to support them.** ”

“You’re going to plunge this world into darkness!” Madame Web interjected, “Life on Earth will be corrupted!”

“ **Not all. The symbiotes will thrive.** ” She continued irreverently, “ **We will do what’s best for my race. There will be no sympathy for a few suffering spiders.** ”

“MJ will never let you get away with this!” Peter yelled.

She turned sharply on him, sending a chill down his spine. She then approached him so closely that he could feel the moisture from her breath on his face, but he didn’t move.

“ **Boy**.” She scolded him, “ **Small creatures like you are no match for my might. You can’t possibly believe the will of a child is a worthy comparison to mine**.”

“You’re underestimating her.” He replied, “And you’re underestimating me.” It was clear to him that the way she had taken over MJ was convincing her she had made her own choice or else she would have never let her take over. He just needed to wake her up again. Somehow.

She flashed a wicked smile, “ **Then hit me, boy. Hit me with as much strength as you can muster in your little body and prove that I am wrong in my judgement. Show me** -,”

Peter cut her off with a swift punch across her face that knocked her back, onto the ground. The entire atmosphere around him froze and he could feel literally everyone staring at him. Carnage Queen clenched her jaw back into place then glared at Peter with a smoldering savagery.

“ **Fine, witness what you’ve just started. I will unleash my Carnage army upon you**!”

“That’s honestly the part I was trying to go ahead and skip to. Or else the villain monologue was just going to keep going on.” Peter replied comedically. Miles shot a web over Carnage Queen’s mouth, “He’s right though. Those things go on forever.” He added.

The Carnage Queen let out a furious cry from underneath the webbing. She ripped it off and then her left hand formed into a red, black lined axe while her right hand turned into a red mace with black spikes.

“Alright! Spider, um… gang? Assemble!” Peter B yelled.

“At least ninety percent positive that’s copyrighted.” Gwen replied as they fought against the Carnage Queen. Boosting each other and blocking each other from her attacks; it meant a great deal to Peter knowing he was not the only spider person out there.

“Hey Gwen!” Miles called, “I bet Carnage lady hasn’t heard of the shoulder touch.”

Peter looked back and forth between them, “What’s the shoulder touch?” He froze a little as Miles’s hand clamped onto his shoulder and stared at him with an engrossed intensity. Then he said “hey” in an immensely deep voice, making Peter slightly uncomfortable.

“Yeah, it’s the stupid thing he does.” Gwen replied.

Peter and Gwen fought the Carnage Queen in order to distract her while Miles struck her. They both struck her under the jaw at the same time and when she stumbled back, Miles leapt over and gripped her shoulder. An electrical shock crackled from his fingertips and struck her hard.

“Great job Kid!” Peter B congratulated him as he dropkicked Carnage Queen when she tried to get back up.

“Guys, the symbiote didn’t detach from her at all.” Miles realized.

“ **That’s right**.” He sneered, holding Peter B in the air by the throat, “ **Your tricks will not work so easily on me**.”

Wade raced behind her, dropped to the ground, and kicked her legs out from underneath her, causing her to release Peter B. When all of the Spider gang came at her, eight extra limbs sported from her body. In each hand, she managed to grab a handful of them, enlarging to fit around them. Miles and Gwen; Cindy and Spider-Ham; Spider-Noir; Penni inside of her robot; Jessica and Madame Web; Venom; Wade and Peter B; and Peter and Quentin. Her grip grew tighter and strands twisted around their necks as well as crushed Penni inside of her robot. With the tight grip, it wouldn’t be long before they all suffocated. Peter’s eyes darted around, but with the spots covering his vision and losing the ability to focus, it was nearly impossible to focus on finding a way out.

“Peter.” He heard Quentin gasp faintly. Even if he had the ability to turn his head, he wasn’t sure he would have. Was Quentin seriously going to taunt him one more time before they all died? However, he sounded a bit too urgent for that, “I’m…” He didn’t finish.

For a dark, gloomy moment, Peter was fairly certain this was how it was going to end. MJ was going to be forced to choke them all to death under the control of a symbiote overlord. He just hoped the Avengers would be able to handle this. It still didn’t make it an ideal way of going out.

However, a web shot out of seemingly nowhere and hit Carnage Queen’s shoulder. She looked at it, confused for a moment before the Spider-Man who shot it followed shortly after, his foot impacting her face. In the shock and fury of the attack, she dropped them all so she could fight back. They all crashed to the ground, gasping for breath.

“It’s Tobey!” Wade beamed, “Tobey came back!”

“I thought they were all Peter?” Quentin said, confused.

“It’s a thing he came up with. You kind of missed that part.” Peter laughed lightly, then immediately regretted it from the pain in his throat. Then, Quentin actually _smiled_ back at Peter. It was more of a sad smile, but it was still weird coming from him. The chokehold must have cut off the circulation of air to his brain for a minute because there was no way he would do that. But he decided to dismiss this and just be grateful they lived.

“ **Black Widow, finish him!** ” Carnage Queen ordered, after a slash across Tobey Spider-Man’s arm.

Venomized Black Widow wagged her long, slobbery tongue in the air.

“Seriously? Cannibalism is so out of style.” Tobey Spider-Man joked, flipping backwards out of her way. Peter tried to reach out to help, but spots still stained his vision and was suddenly overcome with a dizzy spell when trying to stand.

The Black Widow finally caught him and was about to viciously finish him when both PS4 and Andrew Spider-Man webbed her from where they had both previously been lying unconscious and pulled her back. Carnage Queen screamed in fury at their triumph.

“Peter. Look.” Miles shook his shoulder and pointed out over the edge of the roof. Peter could see it. The Avengers and the other Spider-people. However, Carnage Queen must have seen it too.

She smiled wickedly, “ **So you want a party? Fine. Allow me to invite my friends**.” She raised one of her now six arms in the air and a low rumbling began to shake the ground under their feet. Every window beneath them erupted with explosions of glass as a new army of symbiotes fled the nest. They were just as she had said. They were tall, red, standing while host-less, and stronger. They lacked the large, white eyes like the others but instead had a strange black circular marking in the middle of their heads. It was quite epic, watching the Avengers and Spider-people clash with them in an intricate battle.

“Peter. Tell Wanda, Loki, and Wong to get ready. We’re finishing their spell.” Madame Web told him.

Peter passed the information to them over the com system, but Wanda seemed skeptical. “You’re too close to Stephen. Possessed by a symbiote, he’s not going to let you do it.” She said.

Madame Web smiled, “Tell her I’ve got it covered. Just keep Carnage distracted.”

“Got it!” Cindy replied swinging over her and on top of the Carnage Queen’s shoulders, her legs wrapped around her neck. As she rocked back, Spider-Noir caught and gripped her arm that was shaped like an axe while Peter and Spider-Ham webbed her other limbs to the wall behind her.

“Hey, I have a question.” Peter turned to Spider-Ham, “How come you sound like John Mulany?”

Spider-Ham laughed, then glared at him, dead-serious, “Why don’t you mind your own mother-clucking business?”

Peter was too shook to reply as Spider-Ham returned to his comedic nature and trotted off.

“Guys! Incoming!” Gwen exclaimed as the symbiotes made their way onto the roof. Soon, they were overwhelmed, and Carnage Queen was easily able to break free from her hold. Peter watched as Madame Web fought hand to hand with the Symbiote Supreme and shot a web at Carnage Queen’s feet to try and hold her in place as she loomed towards them.

“Oh no you don’t!” He called, pulling her back. Venom took the opportunity to strike and viciously slashed at her, an action she returned.

Madame Web leaned into a hard kick at the Symbiote Supreme’s side, webbed both his shoulders, and then pulled his neck into her knee. He was finally out. Madame took the place where he had been standing and raised her hands up, a red, hazy orb surrounding her. The dark cloud in the sky began to fade away.

Carnage Queen immediately noticed and shrieked, the fairly even fight with Venom came nearly to an end once she unleashed her whole vengeance on him. She then tossed him as if he were a mere toy into the wall behind Madame Web, barely missing her. Peter darted in between Madame Web and Venom to block Carnage Queen. PS4 Spider-Man, Tobey Spider-Man, Andrew Spider-Man, and Peter B joined him as well. Carnage Queen’s arms grew out swiftly towards them, but they fought back just as so.

“Woah, this is like Peter to the fifth power!” PS4 Spider-Man said, “Sorry, I know that makes me sound like a huge nerd, which I guess I’m not denying…”

“Well, then I’m glad you said because I was thinking the exact same thing.” Tobey Spider-Man laughed, and Peter smiled. Andrew Spider-Man flipped through the air over Carnage Queen and webbed two of her limbs together, and then pulled her down by them. She forced herself free and charged at Peter B. He flipped backwards and his foot hit her in the jaw. Peter then struck from her side, knocking her into the ventilation shaft on the roof which she dented.

Venomized Black Widow had managed to sneak up on Tobey Spider-Man from behind, but he grabbed the arm she was about to strike the back of his head with and pulled her over his shoulder, slamming her to the ground, “Not this time.” He stated and Andrew-Spider-Man teamed up with him against the Black Widow symbiote while the others fought Carnage Queen. But she was getting closer to Madame Web. She then grabbed Peter B as he had gone in to punch her. She slammed him into the ground, then yanked off his mask to reveal his bruised and bloodied face, his eyes only half open and dazed before throwing him as far as she could off the roof.

“No!” Peter exclaimed, leaping into the air, propelling himself further with a long web and catching Peter B. As he hung suspended in the air for a brief moment, he made eye contact with PS4 Spider-Man who then held out his hand. Peter shot a web which he caught and then pulled them back down. With the acceleration, Peter B landed a kick across her face, followed by Peter, then PS4 Spider-Man back flipped and struck her in the shin, causing her to sink down.

“Thanks.” Peter beamed.

PS4 Spider-Man pat him on the shoulder, “No sweat Kid.”

Carnage Queen then rose up and supported herself on her eight added limbs, her body hanging in the air making her more spider-like. Venomized Black Widow had nearly finished Tobey Spider-Man and Andrew Spider-Man.

“ **Tell them to move forward**.” She instructed Venomized Black Widow, “ **It’s time for you to lead them into the final phase**.”

She nodded obediently and left them, parkouring over the roof tops of nearby buildings.

“ **As for you** …” She laughed at the all of them, “ **You’ll face to face me**!”

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Peter B huffed.

Miles appeared from his invisible state and attacked one of the symbiotes on the roof, “We’ve gotta stop her from getting closer to Madame Web!”

 _She wouldn’t be able to get her if she can’t see her_. Peter thought to himself. He turned to Quentin, “It sure would be helpful if _someone_ could _create_ a distraction, or something like that…” Quentin looked over his shoulder as if he wasn’t sure if Peter was talking to him or not. Peter rolled his eyes, “Kind of like an _illusion_?”

Quentin tilted his head, “Are you talking to me?”

“He’s talking about your freaking holograms!” Cindy exclaimed, swinging a symbiote attached to her web into another.

He immediately flushed from embarrassment, “Right, right. Of course, I knew that. I was just… making sure you knew that.”

“Just shut up and do the thing.” Jessica replied, holding back a symbiote while webbing another in the face that was about to attack him, and it struggled to pull it off.

“Well, actually, my projector is broken and… hey! What are you doing?” Quentin asked as Penni grabbed his wrist and tampered with the device on it for about a second.

“And… done!” She beamed.

Quentin frowned, twisting it, “Um… thanks.”

A strange look flickered over Carnage Queen’s face, “ **I’ve lost my general.** ” She muttered. The symbiote must have been separated from Black Widow. In the face of this loss, she whipped around and reached for Madame Web.

“ **Beck! Now!** ” Venom shouted as Quentin held out his hands and a green fog surrounded them, changing the scene.


	28. Chapter 28

Carnage Queen looked around in confusion. Madame Web was nowhere to be seen, nor anything from the previous fight. They appeared to be in a shadowy, empty plane. Web patterns could be seen outside the widows at the edges of the scene of the scene, twinkling like the stars. Peter realized that they must have been cloaked by the illusion so that the Carnage Queen could not see them and they could not see each other until they were in close range.

“ **You think you can defeat me with holograms**?” Carnage Queen sneered and held up one of her arms, forming it into a strange blade, “ **I can sense you**.” She lurched at the spot where Peter stood. He instinctively dodged and then threw a punch at her. She caught his arm in the air and pulled him forward, raising her axe hand above his head.

“Let the kid go!” Peter B shouted, appearing in view as he got closer. He raced towards her and she turned on him, sending her blade straight through him.

“No!” Peter screamed. Peter B shifted in the spot for a moment, pressing strangely at the wound before crumpling to the ground. Peter gritted his teeth ferociously before he took the opportunity to kick her hard in the diaphragm and twist his arm free. But when he examined Peter B, there was no blood, “What did you do to him?”

“ **I infused him with my poison**.” She replied triumphantly, twisting the blade, “ **And you’re next**.”

“I don’t think so!” Gwen struck Carnage Queen with a blow in the back of her head, “Don’t let her touch you with that blade!” An invisible force attacked the Carnage Queen that Peter immediately knew was Miles. She furiously tried to catch him after he pulled her own limbs and use them against her. He almost injected her with her own poison with an assist from Gwen and Peter, but she broke free from the hold. Instead, she whipped the blade back around and impaled Miles.

“Miles!” Peter and Gwen both exclaimed.

Venom roared, leaping on top of Carnage Queen and viciously tearing away at her symbiote form. Soon, everyone that had been on the roof was in on the fight. But it wasn’t long before she had also intoxicated Cindy, Spider-Noir, Spider-Ham, PS4 Spider-Man, and Jessica.

Penni within her robot crashed down on Carnage Queen and spun around in an attack. She smirked and thrust out her hand. The robot’s expression changed and glitched while appearing to short circuit, sparks flew around it.

Carnage gripped one of her arms to Penni’s robot, “ **I have a certain… effect, on technology.** ”

Soon, Penni had to eject to not overheat. Carnage Queen caught her as she sailed through the air with one arm and her blade went through her with the other. Gwen gasped as she sputtered before falling to the ground.

“I think it’s time for a little change of scenery.” Peter heard Quentin mutter before the world around them changed into a burning forest, certainly catching Carnage Queen off guard. Along with everyone else.

“We’re one hundred percent positive he’s not evil, right?” Gwen leaned over to Peter, “Because this is only slightly disturbing coming from a super villain’s imagination.”

“Yeah, I seriously have no clue.” Peter replied. He noticed a small glitch in the hologram, which would have had to have been something like a dent that the system didn’t account for. Then he remembered the dented ventilation shaft, “Hey! Your carnage-ness! Over here!” He called.

She turned towards him in frustration and lurched at him, but he leapt over her just in time before she went crashing into the shaft again. Venom grabbed her dazed form and slammed her into the ground like the Hulk would do to his enemies. However, she snapped out of it and let out a bloodcurdling scream. She then grabbed each of Venom’s limbs with four of her extra ones and held him in the air, “ **I will tear you apart from your host. That is, if he isn’t torn apart first.** ” She threatened, slowly extending her arms to rip him apart. Tobey Spider-Man swung at her to stop her, but she instead stuck her blade through him. It did take her off her guard for when Andrew Spider-Man drop kicked her. She dropped Venom who morphed back into Eddie in the fight and Peter slid over to him. 

“Do you wanna be a tag team?” He asked.

Eddie looked up at him in confusion, “What?”

“With Venom. Like they do in wrestling matches…”

“Yeah, I know what a tag team is.” He sighed, holding out his hand and Peter lightly tapped it, “Tag.”

Once she finished Andrew Spider-Man with a swift slice, she raised Eddie again, “ **Tell your cowardly companion to come out and fight me like a symbiote!** ”

“Oh, we plan to.” Peter replied, hanging upside down behind her as Venom wrapped himself into a suit around him. He had felt a cold rush as Venom flowed through him once again.

**_ I really am sorry _ ** . Venom hummed inside of his head.

Peter smiled sadly, “Me too. Friends for now?”

**_ Friends! _ **

Carnage Queen roared in anger, “ **I’ve just about had it with you pesky symbiote! You will submit to my will!** ” She bellowed, but before she could strike at him, Wade slid on his knees and sliced her legs as he slid past with his swords.

“Jesus, that was hard on the knees. That was some pretty Black Widow shi-, hey!” He looked down at the blade in his side, “Seriously? Just as I was getting a one on one fight scene?! Rude.” He muttered before collapsing to the ground. Gwen followed him and as Carnage Queen swung at her with the blade, she dodged, landing a blow on her face. Peter swung in, feet pointed at her chest and knocked her back, flipping back the other way in the impact.

Gwen held up her hand, “Nice one.” He high fived her, “You too.”

“Peter! Gwen! Get out of the way!” Eddie yelled, holding out his hand in front of him and the blade sunk back down.

“No…” Peter whispered, “No…” He couldn’t comprehend words coming from Venom at this, just anguish.

Eddie smiled at him one last time, “Take care of my symbiote, ok?” Then he fell to the ground.

Next thing he knew Gwen was shaking him out of his daze because the Carnage Queen was coming back. She tried to land the blade on Peter but he caught it in between his hands and held it up to stop it from inching towards penetrating his chest. Gwen swung her leg in a lunge position and knocked her legs out from underneath her. Peter backed up Gwen and together, they formed a web cocoon around her. It seemed like they had her for only a moment before her axe hand sliced through the webbing and too quickly before either of them could react, her blade went through Gwen. Peter gasped in horror as she crumbled to the ground.

Carnage Queen flashed a wicked smile, “ **Just one more spider.** ”

“Actually, I’ve been symbiote-sitting for a friend.” Peter replied, leaping up to punch her. But instead, she gave him a swift blow to the diaphragm, forcing him to catch his breath. But not fast enough as he saw the blade raised over him out of the corner of his eye. He shut them tight and heard a swift slice but felt nothing. He finally opened his eyes and turned in his spot on the ground to see Quentin who had revealed himself and stood in front of Peter, taking the blade. In fact, he looked just as shocked by this as Peter.

Quentin glanced back at him and smiled, “You better not screw this up.” And then he fell to the ground. The impact of his hologram projector with the cement caused a series of glitches in the image, causing bright flashes in the mixing of the burning forest with the rooftop. Peter rolled back as Carnage Queen came after him. Then he stood up and hit her hard in the side. They fought hand to hand exchanging punches until she had him dangling against the edge of the roof he could see in the glitches. She gripped his arms in two of her hands while her blade hand sliced across his chest. The only reason her poison didn’t affect him was because of Venom. The blade, however, had penetrated the Venom suit and she smiled, tearing him apart with two of her extra limbs from the hole she had created.

**_ Goodbye… Peter… _ **

“No!” Peter cried until Venom was just a squirming blob of black in Carnage Queen’s hand. Then with one swift gulp, he watched in horror as she swallowed him, “You’re a monster!”

“ **Maybe I am to you. But all I see is you and your gang of monsters trying to eliminate my species.** ” She derided him, “ **However, it looks as though you’re the only one left. All alone little spider. No one to help. No one to depend on. That’s right, I can see it all inside your little head.** ” The blade rose towards Peter’s chest, but as he looked down at the ground below him and through a glitch, he saw the Avengers.

He stared back at her, “You’re wrong.” He brought his foot up under her chin and kicked himself back off the roof, webbing himself to the ventilation shaft and pulling back into the Carnage Queen, shoving her into the ground, “I’m not alone. I’ve never been alone. I’ll always have the people who care about me.” He thought about Aunt May, Ned, Tony Stark, his new friends Miles, Gwen, Venom, Eddie, and Wade. And MJ… “And underneath that symbiote, one of those people is you.”

Carnage Queen froze, a flicker of doubt then overcome by rage. She screamed and took her mace this time, cutting through the air as Peter dodged until she sliced across his side. He gasped in sharp pain from the nasty gash. This one wasn’t toxic, but it was just as deadly. A warm cloud of blood soaked the area of his suit. The pain spread with it and he dropped down to one knee, gasping. She stroked the side of his head in triumph, “ **At last, you bow to me.** ” She pulled the mask from his face in one swift motion. His thoughts were beginning to get muddied. He knew he was losing too much blood too fast. But he wasn’t ready to give up.

“MJ… come home. Please.” Peter looked into her eyes pleadingly. He had full faith in her. He just needed her to know, “Listen. You can do this. Come on Spinneret.”

Carnage Queen roared in his face.

“COME ON SPINNERET!” Peter yelled back with all the might he had left in him.

Carnage Queen then slowly backed off. She gave a strangled cry as she became undone. Her limbs frayed out of control in the air along with her face until it parted enough so he could see…

“MJ!” He cried.

Her eyes darted to him. There was a fearful look to them, but there was also relief in seeing Peter. But it only lasted for a second. Her eyes fell to his wound followed by realization, “Peter, get out of here!”

Peter winced as he used every effort to stand, “No. I’m not leaving you again. You would have never done that to me.” He stumbled towards her, and tried to regain his balance, then he smiled at her, “MJ, I love you.”

MJ’s face flickered as if having an internal conflict within herself. Then she gave a sad smile, “I love you too.” She whispered.

He beamed through the pain. Finally, he crashed into her arms and wrapped his arms around her. She froze a little with the contact, but then sighed, burring her face in his shoulder.

Peter heard a faint, high-pitched shriek and watched as Carnage thrashed above her head. He felt MJ’s breath quicken against his ear.

“I love you.” He repeated in a breathless whisper as his head spun. He shut his eyes but then he heard something strange. It sounded like an explosion of a thousand tiny butterflies. He opened his eyes and saw a blurred image of a beam above Madame Web and the dark, ominous cloud dispersing in a stroke of green connected with three other points that formed a bright green portal. The spell was working.

**_ Noooooo… _ ** Was the last they heard of the Carnage Queen. MJ gasped as she dematerialized from around her in green glowing, floating specks and the specks were sucked up into the portal in the sky. The same happened to the Symbiote Supreme, her entire army, and the nest. Madame Web raised her hands over her head and spread them out, the portal dispersing against the starry sky above. Peter sighed happily and hugged MJ tightly. Then, with one final breath, his body went limp from the pain in her arms.

“Peter? Peter?!” She cried, lowering him to the ground. The pain in his side intensified along with the ringing in his head. Peter gasped and winced as she lowered his head to the ground, “No…” She whispered.

Images faded in and out of his head but finally caught another familiar face.

“Hey… Kid!” He faintly heard Tony’s voice and felt his hand on his shoulder, “Kid, stay with me, come on.”

He gave a weak smile, “Hey…”

Tony sighed, a sad smile painted across his face, “You did it. They’re gone. We won.” He paused, glancing at his wound, “Alright, stay with me here. What’s your blood type?”

“Oh…” Peter’s gaze drifted up before he passed out, “Um… red…”


	29. Chapter 29

“Oh my God, he’s awake!”

Peter blinked awake to bright fluorescent lights and winced a little as feelings and memories came flooding back. The pain in his side, their defeat of the symbiotes…

He was in a hospital bed. He shifted a little and saw Aunt May leaning over him, her long brown silky hair falling down around her worried face. Before he said anything, he sat up in the bed and hugged her with everything in him. His head spun, but he continued to hold on to her.

“Alright, don’t overexert yourself just yet.” An older, grey haired, kind looking nurse with square framed glasses lowered him back down in the hospital bed, “However, it seems at this rate, you’ll make a quick recovery.” He winked. There was something very familiar about him. Peter caught the name “Stan” on his nurse id badge…

“Peter, you gave me a heart attack!” Aunt May exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry.” He replied truthfully, “Just, please don’t ground me forever.”

She sighed, “No. You’re not grounded forever. I know how much this means to you. I’m just grateful you’re alive.” She smiled, “Besides, you have a lot of superhero friends here to see you anyways.”

Throughout the rest of the day, people dropped in and out of the hospital room to check on him. Aunt May stayed the entire time. Tony stopped by too and bought them all McDonalds, then stayed with them too. Avengers stopped by periodically to congratulate him or wish him to get better soon. Much to Peter’s great surprise and relief, Doctor Strange had been able to undo the effects of the poison on everyone who had been infected. And unironically, the people who then stayed the longest were the Spider-Gang with Wade and Ned as well. Aunt May and Tony chatted as they talked and laughed for hours. They also played a few very noisy games of Uno.

“Um… hey…” Eddie eventually appeared and waved awkwardly in the doorway of his hospital room.

“Hi!” Peter waved back as he came to his bedside.

“How are you feeling?”

“Well, Miles just beat me at Uno four times, but other than that I’m doing ok.” He replied casually.

Eddie frowned at the game, “Weird. That looks like a game called Un from my dimension.”

Peter B shrugged, “I think it’s different in all our dimensions. The rules are all pretty consistent though. I’ll deal you in for the next round.”

“Noir. You can’t play that. That’s a green. The color is red.” Gwen pointed out. Spider-Noir threw his cards on the table in frustration.

Eddie smiled, “Alright. Enjoy it while it lasts, I guess. I’m not really used to things working out this well most of the time.”

“Yeah.” Peter’s face fell as he remembered the thing he had been regretting most. Venom. “Eddie, I’m so sorry… Something… something happened to Venom.” He began, his voice breaking just a little.

“Yeah. I know. The jackass hasn’t stopped complaining about it for hours.” Eddie replied nonchalantly as Peter B passed him the cards.

Peter stared at him, his eyes wide and his mouth open, “What?! I thought Venom was dead! I saw him get eaten!”

Eddie shrugged, a sly smile tugging at his mouth, “He got better.” Peter must have still looked confused because he continued, “When Carnage Queen was defeated, she disappeared into a sparkly portal thingy or whatever- it’s your turn- anyways, she hadn’t, you know… digested Venom yet. Yeah, sort of gross. So, when she turned into particle things to go through the portal, she left Venom behind. Then he found me again and here we are.”

Venom appeared over Eddie’s shoulder, “ **We have a policy that dying is stupid, so we don’t do it. Oo! Eddie, plus four him!** ”

“Shh! I’m saving it!” He hushed him with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

“Damn straight.” Wade replied, “Dying is for wieners. That’s why I don’t do it either. Also, I almost literally can’t even if I tried so… now that’s a little unsettling.”

“Hey, I’ve got a question.” Ned spoke up, “If Mysterio was a good guy, but not really because he was a bad guy, but now he was a sort of good guy for about the last twenty four hours… what I’m trying to say is, what happened to him?”

“Disappeared without a trace right after the fight.” Tony replied from the other side of the room and they all turned to look at him, “Strange put the antidote stuff in him and we were all a little focused with Peter not dying, so he slipped out. We don’t know where he could be right now.”

“Hey, Mr. Stark.” Peter began, “When it came down to it, he saved my life.”

Tony sighed, obviously seeing where this was going, “He’s still a wanted criminal.”

“I’m just saying we could maybe let him be for a while, unless we find out he’s doing something bad again. …Please.” He added.

Tony studied him, “Well, he’s not our number one priority right now, but we’ll see.”

Peter smiled at him, “Thank you.”

He shrugged, “Your buddy’s about to plus four you.” Tony had a clear view of Ned’s cards.

“Ned!” Peter gasped.

Ned shifted uncomfortably before placing the card, “Uno. I’m sorry!” 

Peter glared at him as he drew four cards, “Does our friendship mean nothing to you?”

A while later, Madame Web finally checked at her watch, “Alright, I’ve gotta go. And you guys need to get home too.”

Miles sighed and nodded, “Alright.” He turned to Peter, “You’ve gotta come check out my dimension one time! It would be so great!”

Peter beamed, “That sounds awesome!”

Gwen handed him, MJ, Cindy, and Eddie each a small, wrist device, “If you ever need help again, or just wanna talk to someone, give one of us a call.”

He smiled, “Thanks.”

Miles left Peter with a hug. The rest of the Spider people joined in including Wade, Ned, and an unenthusiastic Eddie.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll miss you weirdos. I just wanna go back to my dimension and take a shower.” Eddie muttered.

Venom stretched around them and squeezed the entire group with an extra tight embrace, followed by an array of “aww”s. Eddie simply rolled his eyes.

“Since when were you a people person?” He asked, but still smiled nonetheless.

They each said their goodbyes then twisted the devices on their wrists and disappeared in thin air, back to their dimensions. Peter felt a pang of sorrow, but then reminded himself they were still out there. And they would see each other again.

Since MJ, Ned, and Wade didn’t have other dimensions to return to, they stayed for a little longer. Ned was incredibly surprised to find out Wade wasn’t a Spider-Man from another dimension. Wade laughed at this and said he was Deadpool. He actually used the f-word before it that Aunt May had only used once but didn’t exactly approve of, so she told him to watch the language because they were in a hospital.

MJ pointed out that their masks shared similarities which was why Ned thought he was some alternate version of Spider-Man. They then decided to switch masks as a joke. When Wade pulled his off to swap, Peter saw his face for the first time. It certainly wasn’t what he expected; he was bald, and his skin was patched and stained in places most likely from some sort of cancer. His eyes were a warm brown and charismatic, and he had a goofy smile.

“Woah.” Ned said, then flushed with embarrassment realizing how wrong of a thing that was to say and MJ punched him in the arm, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-,”

Wade laughed and pretended to do a hair flip, “I know. I just stunned you with my Hollywood good looks. It happens all the time. I have to wear the mask just so I won’t distract people.” He joked.

They put on each other’s masks and laughed. Wade’s mask smelled like sweat and alcohol, a pretty unpleasant combination.

“Do you ever clean yours?” Peter teased as they switched back.

“How do even think in that thing? That was literally squeezing my brains out.” He laughed again before his phone gave a ping and he checked it. His face fell as he read the message, “Damn. I forgot about that.” He turned to Peter, putting him phone back in his pocket, “Well, I’ve gotta bounce.” He leaned over and kissed Peter on the forehead, then ruffled his hair, “See ya around Spidey.”

Peter raised his brow as he approached the window and opened it, “What are you…?” Wade jumped out the window and they all gasped, but then he swung back up using a web, waving as he flew past the window and web-slang across the city.

“You _sure_ he’s not another Spider-Man?” Ned asked.

Peter suspiciously felt his own wrists, then sighed, “He took my web shooters.”

MJ glared out the window, “If you want me too, I’ll jump down there and web him to the pavement and take them back.”

“Hey! You can’t do that.” Tony replied, “I was gonna do that.”

Peter shrugged, “It’s ok. He can keep them. I’ve got a backup pair at home.”

Aunt May sighed, “Out of all the unusual friends you’ve made in the last twenty-four hours, that one’s probably my least favorite.” Tony nodded in agreement.

It was getting late and Peter learned that he was going to have to stay the night. But at this rate, he would be able to leave in the morning. He took the time to explain everything about Venom to Ned. MJ then explained how she became Spinneret. 

“You know what this means?” Ned gasped, “I can be _both_ of your guy in the chair!” It was long past dark when Ned’s dad called and told him he needed to head home.

“You need your rest anyways.” MJ assured Peter when they had to leave.

“Wait.” Peter began, turning to her, Ned, Aunt May, and Tony, “Thank you. All of you. For everything. Seriously. Thank you for always being there for me, even when I really don’t deserve you. I’m sorry I kept pushing you away.”

Aunt May came to his bed and gently stroked his arm, “It’s ok. You’re still human; no one should have to face those sorts of things by their self.”

“She’s right.” Tony agreed, “I’m sorry you’ve had to turn out so much like me. There’s a lot of stress that comes with this, and you need good people to keep you grounded.” He smiled, “You also have the coolest aunt ever. I wish I had your aunt.”

Aunt May rolled her eyes and blushed at that, “Oh, stop it.”

“Yeah. You know we’re here for you.” Ned smiled and hugged Peter goodbye, “And besides, I’ll be the first to know about your Avengers missions when you get back from them.”

Peter laughed, “You know it.”

MJ leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “See you Monday.”

Peter smiled, “See you then.”

She and Ned left, leaving Peter, Aunt May, and Tony. Tony grinned, “She seems like a nice girl.”

Aunt May smirked in agreement, “She’s a cutie too.”

Peter groaned, pulling out his pillow from behind him and buried his face in it, “Please don’t start this.”

After a while of talking about science, school, and Avengers, Aunt May insisted that Tony should go home and get some rest. But he stayed. He didn’t think the world would fall apart without him for one night. Then at some point, Peter drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he had gotten in the past week.

* * *

Peter woke up to a completely dark room and turned his head to see the soft green letters on the digital reading 4:13 a.m. He sighed, turning his head back on the pillow to try and fall asleep again when he could have sworn he saw something swipe past, blocking his view of the numbers. Peter froze in his spot and held his breath. He could sense something moving around in the dark. His eyes slowly began to adjust, and he could see where Aunt May lay asleep on the small couch on the far side of the room while Tony was asleep in the chair next to Peter’s bedside.

He turned his head and his heart stopped as a figure moved around near the nightstand on the other side of his bed. Peter’s first instinct was to wake up Tony, but as soon as he reached out his hand, the figure grabbed it and clamped his hand over Peter’s mouth. His eyes grew wide and fearful, but then he recognized the figure. Quentin Beck.

“Shh…” He whispered, pulling back the sleeve of his dark hoodie and green mist diffused from the device on his wrist. Peter internally groaned. Knock-out gas. Of course. The last thing he saw was Quentin exit before he collapsed back on his pillow.

When he finally woke up again, sunlight filled the room and he was convinced he maybe dreamed the whole encounter, but then he noticed a note on his nightstand. He immediately hid it under his shirt before Aunt May or Tony could see it. It wasn’t long before the doctors told them he could go home. Tony had already covered the hospital bill before Aunt May knew it so she wouldn’t be able to protest. Of course when she found out, she was grateful but also furious that Tony felt he had to do such a thing, but he insisted that they had been through enough already and it was the least he could do. Nevertheless, she insisted that he and Pepper at least come over for dinner then.

When they finally left the hospital and got home, Aunt May went to take a shower and Peter headed to his bedroom to read the mysterious note:

_ Spider-Man, _

_ I’m not sure if you remember, but what I was trying to tell you before is that I’m sorry. You’re not going to see me for a while, and trust me, if you ever do again it probably won’t be good. I always thought if you wanted people to listen to you, you needed superpowers and a cape, but then you trusted me not as Mysterio, but as Quentin Beck. I’m sorry I broke that trust in you. Don’t use this note as an excuse to waste your time finding me because I’m not a hero and I’m not going to claim I’ve ‘seen the light’ or am ready to ‘turn to the good side’. But I don’t need to be a good guy or a bad guy to know that you deserved better. _

_ So, you’re not going to go back to being a normal teenager? Ha, well, I guess you too far in at this point. For what it’s worth, what you have, what you fight for, it’s worth Spider-Man. You’re a good kid and I wish you well with whatever you’re doing next. _

_ -Mysterio _

Peter read it over a couple more times, then finally looked out the window as rain began to trickle down in the city.

* * *

The next week of school Peter felt more adjusted to his superhero and personal life, like a storm resolved itself. He was able to talk to MJ and Ned more carefreely without the burdens previously on his shoulders.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Betty commented and smiled as she passed by.

MJ held up an imaginary microphone to Peter, “Mr. Parker sir, how does it feel to be back at school again without a symbiote stuffed up your ass?” She asked in a news castor voice.

Peter laughed, “Feels great.” But then out of the corner of his eye he saw Brad Davis, a kid nearly as bad as Flash Thompson, approach them.

“You know, if I didn’t already think you were mental, I would have definitely guessed you were seriously bipolar by the way you go from looking for fights one week and then happy go lucky the next.” He commented, “Flash mentioned you were bisexual, but I could have sworn that was something different.”

“Have you been watching Peter, because that’s creepy.” MJ replied, sticking up for him, “Also, tossing in someone’s sexuality as an insult is just like giving them a fact. It’s not very effective. Like if you did that to me and called me a pansexual person, that would be an observation.”

“You know what, your right.” He nodded, then smirked, “Sexual orientation is nothing to poke fun at, considering you don’t control who you love. It’s not your fault you like a guy with no balls.”

Ned slammed his locker shut with a threatening ‘crash’ at Brad’s trans insult directed at Peter, but then Flash stepped in.

“Funny, because _he’s_ got twice the balls you’ll ever have.” He replied coolly. He also said it loudly enough to where the surrounding people in the halls let out a simultaneous ‘oof!’

Brad glared at Flash who wore a satisfied smirk before sharply turning away and making his way down the hall. The three turned to Flash, shocked that he had actually stood up for Peter.

Peter was the first one to say something, “Um… thank you.”

Flash shrugged, “Sure thing Peter.” This was different than the usual ‘Penis Parker’ greeting.

Ned gripped Peter’s arm, “You’re sure you got all the symbiotes, right? I think one might still be in Flash.”

Flash laughed, then shook his head, “No. Look, I, um… I’m really sorry. I’ve been a huge jerk to you, and it’s really because I’ve always had a lot of insecurity and I took out on other people which, I know, is super lame. I don’t know why I just said that. What I’m trying to say is…” He winked, “Your secret is safe with me.” Peter had nearly forgotten that Flash had discovered he was Spider-Man.

“Oh! Yeah, thanks.” He grinned, “You know, I think it’s kind of stupid we’ve been at each other’s throats since kindergarten. Maybe we could try and be friends?”

A look of shock and excitement flickered over Flash’s face, “Really?!” He then coughed, trying to cover it up, “I mean, whatever. Yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

Peter held out his hand and Flash shook it.

“Well, I’ve gotta get to class. I’ll see you second period.” Flash waved, walking to his next class.

“Bye!” Peter waved back, then MJ gave him a suspicious look, “What?”

“Are we sure _you’re_ not stilled venomized?”

He rolled his eyes, “I just think it’s time things changed around here a little bit. If Flash wants to be friends, why not?”

The rest of the school day flew by to the part Peter was truly excited about. As soon as the last bell rang, Peter said bye to his friends and raced out, changing into his red and black Spider-Man suit. He threw his backpack over his shoulders and swung to the top of the nearest building. He then twisted the small device on his wrist and let out a small gasp as it pulled him from his dimension in a New York that was different than his.

“Hey Peter!” Miles swung past the roof and waved, “Come on!”

Peter beamed and followed him, the two of them web slinging through New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey babies, congrats you finished the story!.. Kind of. Ok so there’s actually technically one more chapter which has some epilogue stuff (the equivalent to a MCU movie post credit scene) and it’s pretty short and also getting posted today so hang in there! I’m in it, so that’s a good enough reason to stick around. Or if you’ve already been sticking around for this whole thing, thanks for that! That’s super hecking awesome and so are you.
> 
> -Deadpool (The one and only)


	30. Epilogue stuff (Equivalent to a MCU post-credit scene)

_ Two days ago. The hospital waiting room before the Spider-Gang was allowed to see Peter. _

Wade leaned over to Miles who was playing on his phone in his seat, “Hey.”

Miles pulled off his headphones, “What’s up?”

“So, you know that shoulder touch thingy?”

“…Yes?” He replied, unsure where this was going.

“So, it’s like…” Wade raised his arm and then dropped it on Miles’s shoulder, “Hey.”

“No, no, no.” Miles laughed, brushing his hand off, “It’s more like…” He placed his hand on Wade’s shoulder, “ _Hey_.”

“Ok, so be sexy with it?”

“Yeah, but not too much or it’s creepy.” Miles explained, “Tilt your head a little when you do it too.”

“Got it.” He replied as Peter B came back from the hospital cafeteria, “Wish me luck.” He winked.

“The doctor said Peter just woke up. We should be able to go in in a couple more minutes…” Peter B trailed off as Wade placed his hand on his shoulder.

“ _Hey_.” He said in his deepest, not-too-sexiest voice.

Peter B blinked, then glanced at Miles, “Was this your doing?”

“What? No…” Miles laughed nervously, pulling out his phone to look like he was distracted, “It was… someone else’s.”

* * *

_ Also two days ago. After Wade stole Peter’s web shooters and left the hospital. _

“Domino! Domino! Watch me!” Wade squealed before jumping off the roof of the building he was standing on into the alleyway where Domino waited in.

Domino watched unenthusiastically as Wade pressed a device on his wrist that didn’t work, letting him crash down into the alleyway on top of a beat-up Volkswagen.

She smirked, “Lucky the car broke your fall.”

“You’re never gonna believe this! I met Spider-Man! And we saved the multiverse, or something like that…” Wade beamed. “So, what’s this about anyways?”

Domino tilted her head at Colossus who was in the shadows behind Wade and pointed. He turned and gasped, “You’re here too? I guess the crossovers continue. Maybe that means I’ll actually meet more of you guys.”

“The Professor fears that mutantkind is about to suffer a great hardship.” Colossus explained, “We need everyone for this one.”

“We? You’re talking about the X-Men!” Wade stated and gasped excitedly, then he crossed his arms, “Funny. I knew you guys would come crawling back eventually. You saw I moved on and I was doing better without you! I started X-Force.”

“Which most of them died.” Domino replied matter-of-factly.

“Hey! I was going to insert Stronger by Kelly Clarkson before you pointed that out!” Wade sighed, then turned back to Colossus, “Fine. For ‘mutantkind’ or whatever. Mega X-Men crossover should be fun. Just one thing… we’re getting paid, right?” Colossus turned down the street and Domino followed. Wade called after them, “Right?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Another fanfiction done! And onto another one! Avengers and X-Men: Mutant Crisis is going to be the next work in this series and I can’t wait to post it! (nervous laughter) As soon as I finish it… But seriously guys, I know Deadpool has already told you but you guys really are so awesome! I started writing my first fanfiction ever two years ago and this has been a really fun experience for me so that my writing can progress hopefully into my very own original novel one day. For now, I love writing about the Marvel characters that changed my life and I can’t wait to take them on so many other stories. Thanks for supporting me on a fun ride through Adventures in Symbiote-Sitting! See you on the next adventure!
> 
> -WeirdFanGirl


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